The Glow of Winter
by Torun
Summary: Jane, Darcy and Erik are living in Puente Antiguo in the New Mexican desert, working on the worst kept secret in the Nine Realms, a Bifrost replica, when they are swept along in the race towards the end as we know it.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is my own imagination.**

**Author's Note:** I feel I need to say a few things before anyone starts to read.

This is MCU _sort of_. Marvel have come a long way from the 60s and I've written it in that spirit; that these entities stepped out of old myths when Thor dropped from the sky and the story is more complex than the 1960s simplistic good and evil.

This is of course AU and I've granted myself creative freedom with both MCU and Norse mythology. The original comic was an American version of the Norse myth after all, so I don't feel guilty at all for this.

I'm planning on writing a pt II eventually, so you'll not get all the answers here. I have also shifted around the origin of a mythological character, why will be explained eventually, and relations have been swapped around a bit too.

I have not written gods. They are not even demi-gods, which in my not so humble opinion is a cowardly route to take because if you're going to apply godly attributes to someone, then go all in. In this world they are aliens who were once worshipped by our ancestors. One reason for this shift is because it's really difficult to determine what constitutes a god (and it's even worse with demi-gods).

Another reason is this: the original myth is clear on the subject of immortality – without Idunn's apples they grow old and die. Humans who gain access to the apples will be given eternal youthfulness too. This is important.

The people living in Asgard are less frail than humans and can control what we call magic, but without their apples they too die of old age eventually. It makes for a better story if they're not eternal and extremely powerful in themselves, something actually recognised in MCU where their powers are toned down, that the differences between us and them really aren't that great, no matter what some of them think.

I also have a beta I'd like to thank. She has listened to my rants, discussed the finer points of writing and characterisation with me, commented and corrected my grammar, because English isn't my native language, therefore I will stumble. Thank you so much, Foster Theory! You'll find her on Tumblr where she writes about science and MCU.

ETA: I have bumped this up from Teen, which is the equivalent to PG-13 more or less, to M. This was first and foremost because my characters do use profanities, just as a vast majority of real life people do, and because I'm not shying away from describing violence and gruesome situation. I like to get up close and personal when it matters, so to speak. I have also decided to emphasise the romance more than I originally planned on, and I'm not talking about the low-key Thor/Jane one here. Since I've already bumped the rating up for violence and language, I could just as well add some adult situations. However, don't expect porn. This will not go beyond M and the rules concerning adult situations.

* * *

**Prologue**

The discussion was not going well. Loki sighed inwardly as he watched his father grumble and growl his displeasure. This whole situation was trying to say the least. He was torn between two people and two views on the world. He loved both these people and it was that love which had brought him to his father this evening.

Earlier he had pleaded diplomacy and tact, and now he was trying to smooth his father's ruffled feathers.

"What does she know about life? Nothing. Has she lived a score of years yet?" Odin grumbled as he slowly moved in the room.

Loki watched calmly, standing with his hands behind his back. "If we're to discuss age neither Thor nor I will ever be old and wise enough to voice our opinions."

"She has not only taught mortals how to treat illness and injury, but runes as well! No good can come out of that! And then she speaks up against her king!" Odin retorted, stomping in a circle, now waving his hands in the air .

"May I remind you that she is mortal and in a strict sense you are not her king," Loki said evenly, repeating the very words she had said when they had talked.

Odin turned towards Loki and stopped short. "She is insolent! She is disturbing the peace that I have worked so hard to restore!"

Loki's eyes dipped to the floor and he pursed his lips. "She has no intention of disturbing peace, but you have to admit that her actions are understandable-"

Odin cut him off. "What if she feeds them with the apples? What then?"

Loki looked up and frowned. "I don't understand. She has said nothing of the sort. All she has done is to teach them-"

"You don't think it hasn't crossed her mind? Giving the mortals on Midgard immortality?" Odin's voice boomed.

Loki looked down at the floor again. There was little point in saying more now or he'd be accused of being gullible.

"They can't take care of themselves; they are under threat at all times and need our protection. They are incapable of higher forms of civilization, and giving them immortal life would flood us with problems! They breed like no other race within and outside of the nine realms. It's a good thing they have such short lives or we'd be overrun by them!"

"So you intend to treat them as pets?" Loki asked, looking up.

"They are our creation and our responsibility. They are pale shadows of us, but they are not _like_ us!"

"You don't think much of them, do you?" Loki asked with a sinking feeling. The way this conversation was going, he feared the favour he was going to ask wouldn't be granted. He heaved a deep breath. They were not there yet. When things had calmed down it would be a better time.

Odin studied his son. "On the contrary, I think they are capable of a lot of things." He sighed. "Imagine what would happen if someone used them for their own purposes? They are far too trusting. It could be the undoing of all of us!"

"But father, with the right education-" Loki begun again.

"They are better off without it! Without a strong leadership we would lose control of them and events to come. Who would lead them? A mortal? They squabble all the time. How could they ever find stability? Immortality and education would not change their enthusiasm for killing each other. Soon they would take their unrest elsewhere." Odin paused.

"Loki, our entire world is relying on keeping peace between the realms. We need to keep our neutrality and step in to curb conflict before it can get a foothold. Giving mortals the same privileges we have, would disturb the balance within the nine realms. I doubt we could keep factions from warring with each other and the ultimate price would be paid by the very people she is trying to help."

Odin stepped over to Loki and put his hand on Loki's shoulder. "My boy, I understand you hold her dear, but she cannot be allowed to continue with what she's doing. Defying me, arguing against me in the open the way she did, attacking Asgard and its values like that, it cannot continue."

"She was not attacking Asgard. You have to admit that we have faults of our own," Loki retorted.

"But people are seeing it as an attack on the essence of Asgard."

"Her logic is sound."

Odin smiled sadly. "Ah, but she learned that from you. Naturally you would agree with her."

Loki quirked an eyebrow. "Father, she and I don't always see eye to eye. I have no intention of supporting Asgard's fall, and she's not suggesting such a thing either. And there's no harm in her kindness."

Odin looked pained. "Her kindness is not the problem. Her outspokenness is." Odin gave his shoulder a quick squeeze and then let go, turning to walk another lap around the chamber.

_Loki, there is another way. You know there is_. Loki heard her as if she was in this room.

His response had been some of the arguments his father usually would produce and she had smiled sweetly and just repeated it. _There is another way._ Loki turned to follow Odin with his eyes. A flicker of light in the darkness on the outskirts of the city caught Loki's attention and he turned his head to try and locate it. Odin noticed Loki's movement turned in the same direction and frowned.

"Fire," he said.

Loki went pale and a sense of dread grew in the pit of his stomach. Before he could say or do anything, Odin spoke again, grimly. "Arson."

"No," Loki breathed and closed his eyes. Because of the chaotic emotions he struggled for a moment before he could send himself to the location of the fire.

The little cottage was completely engulfed with the fire and surrounding it there was a slowly gathering crowd, watching the inferno from a distance. The roof suddenly caved in with a loud crash and the flames exploded outwards just as Loki materialised.

He stood staring at the disaster unable to move or think as minutes dragged on. A bright flash and a booming thunder announced the arrival of Thor and the rain started hurling down from the skies, sending people scurrying for shelter from the hard rain, but Loki hardly noticed. Instead he sank to his knees and stared at the now slowly dying fire, unable to think or feel anything.

Absently Loki noticed Thor's presence as he came stalking towards him. The darkness couldn't hide the grim face he wore as he watched the remains of the cottage.

"What happened?" Thor demanded when he stopped next to Loki.

Loki tried to bring himself to answer. "I don't know," he finally managed to croak.

"The ones who did this will pay!" Thor boomed angrily and glared around him and the few remaining onlookers shrank back into the shadows.

There was a long moment of silence where Thor stood indecisively next to Loki. Finally he crouched down. "Brother, come with me. I will take care of this," he said.

Loki didn't move.

"Loki," Thor entreated. "Please."

Loki turned to look at Thor who looked like wanted to tear something apart. The "rawk" from a raven reached his ears. The realisation of what had happened slowly started to sink in.

* * *

Loki opened his eyes and sighed. The memory had haunted him a lot lately, hardly surprising. Returning to Midgard had been a very bad idea in hindsight. He had believed in the plan and his ability to lead the mortals. He had been eager to teach Asgard a lesson, how they had always underestimated Midgard. But because of the upcoming calamity named Ragnarök, he had seized the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The cycle was coming to an end, as it always did, and a new beginning was coming. He had planned on using the upcoming debacle to propel himself and his subjects to greatness. It had been so fitting.

Being brought back in chains to Asgard shattered all hopes for him.

What was he supposed to do now? He was starting to become restless and needed a distraction. Reaching out he decided he was strong enough to travel those hidden pathways Heimdall couldn't see. With a quick glance around, he disappeared.

When he reappeared he sighed in relief and let the sense of accomplishment spread. It was night and quite chilly and he stood for a long time letting his senses taking in everything. The laboratory where Ms Foster and Erik Selvig was working, was dark and empty, but he would find them, he knew it.

Next time he reappeared it was on the other side of the small town of Puente Antiguo, on the outskirts of it. In front of him was a single wide trailer home painted in sage, looking muddy in the bleak porch light. There wasn't much else to look at on the grounds, just gravel and some miserable desert plants and a couple of trees. Two cars were parked close to the trailer.

He walked towards the trailer and took a closer look at the small porch. Someone had decorated it with a bamboo wind chime, some wreaths of paling plastic that once had been in bright colours and Christmas lights were woven through the porch railing, gleaming faintly. He reached out and touched the flower wreath and shook his head. It was positively hideous.

The indoors were as unimpressive as the outdoors had been. The colours were tans and white as far as he could see in the half dark room, which seemed to be some common area next to a kitchen. The one exception was the wall to his right which had a wallpaper with roses, ribbons and birds in pastel colours against a bright red background. Loki squinted at it. Was this Ms Foster's taste? Really? He almost snorted silently.

He slowly walked further into the room, drawn towards the light coming from an opening on the far side of the kitsch wall, when he heard a voice call out.

"Jane?"

The voice was unfamiliar. He stopped, looking to his right, where a small corridor had come into view. It had three doors leading into rooms and all the doors were more or less open, and the light flooded into the corridor from the rooms, and into the open space where he stood. He faced the corridor just as a familiar form appeared in the corridor from the room right in front of him. Dressed in grey shapeless garments and her hair lose there was no denying she still made an impression, Ms Jane Foster. He might not like her, but he wasn't blind.

"Yeah?" Ms Foster replied as she turned right and disappeared through the open door closest to him.

"See? I found it! I told you I'd find it," the unfamiliar voice said triumphantly.

"Why do you have it?" Ms Foster asked.

Loki stepped closer.

"Because I borrowed it? Don't you remember? Late desert night hosted by Dr. Foster?"

"Right." Ms Foster was silent a few moments. "What's this?" she continued.

Loki was at the door, listening intently.

"It's called a book, you know, pieces of paper with text put together. You begin at this end here-"

A snort was heard. "Yeah, I heard rumours that they still exist. But really Darcy? Are you in a retro phase? A real book?"

"Hardy-har. Mom sent it to me."

"If I didn't know better I'd say you are switching to anthropology."

There was a sound inside Loki couldn't place. Someone sitting down on something probably. There was a springy sound to it.

"I'm just curious you know. And you have to admit, considering what our lives are revolving around it's not a bad idea to study some. I'm curious."

Someone else sat down.

"It's mythology."

"I know. Some of it obviously is correct though. They do exist after all." There was a grin in the voice who said that. "My true love is still this however." Moving noises again.

"Political history? You can keep it." Ms Foster laughed quietly.

"You have to be educated to make the correct choices!"

Loki stiffened. One time long ago he had said the same words, right here, on Midgard.

"May I remind you that I have a Ph.D. in astrophysics?" Ms Foster again, amused.

"Hey, that Ph.D. in Asgardian political history is _just_ around the corner! We just need that Minifrost operational. Which is your department, mind you."

Ms Foster chuckled and then there was a silence. "Asgard is scary. Fascinating I'm sure, but scary," she then said solemnly.

"Suppose so. I bet they don't exactly live in thatched long houses."

"Hardly. No, when Thor talked about it, it definitely sounded . . . grand."

There was a snort. "That Odin dude seems like a piece of work too."

Despite himself Loki smiled. Who was this? There was such an odd echo of the past in what she said. Different language, different use of words, but the sentiments were the same.

"I'd be a bit careful if I were you. If you want that Ph.D., you need access to archives. Asgard's archives. I have a feeling you need to play nice with the All-Farther to be allowed to take a look at those."

There was a sigh. "Yeah, I guess so."

"You could always start that revolution after your Ph.D."

There was a violent movement and the sound of springs. "Vive la revolution!" the unknown woman exclaimed.

The two women snickered.

"You know that Thor is next in line, don't you? If Odin steps down, Thor will be king," Ms Foster pointed out.

Loki's mouth set in a hard line as he listened to the movements made inside the room.

"You know how to pick them."

"I haven't picked anyone." Ms Foster was dismissive.

"I wonder what it's like."

"What?"

"Asgard. In the long run I wonder what all of this will mean for us, rediscovering these people. I mean, we think we rule our own world, right? It's just that we don't. We just didn't know, or forgot along the way. If the myths are right about those apples, can you imagine the negotiations, the attempts at theft, bribing and who knows what, to get hold of an apple from Asgard? No wonder S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't want people to know much. But you know what? I bet a majority of Scandinavia is wondering."

Loki closed his eyes. Again this woman moved into what was familiar territory with her musings.

"I-I never thought about that." Ms Foster was thoughtful.

"I bet that Minifrost can be turned into a weapon too you know." The other woman's voice was quiet but it still carried.

"Yes, it can. I'll do what I can to prevent _that _from happening though," Ms Foster firmly said.

"I really hope Asgard is willing to share, because if they're not . . ." the voice trailed off.

"I know. It's a bit depressing when you think about it really."

Movement again resulting in creaks.

"It'll be okay. Eventually."

"I'm not so sure. I mean, look at what our world is like. The prospects of this being solved in a peaceful manner if Asgard isn't willing to share . . . ."

"There is always a way. You know there is."

Loki's eyes grew wide and he moved quickly. He had to see who this was. Standing in the doorway he looked inside into a small room, reasonably tidy, but it was now clear who had put the ornaments on the porch and the wall paper in the common area. It was bright, colourful, almost an assault to his senses with its patterns and prints. Even the carpet on the floor was matched with the surroundings, though not as bright as the rest.

On a wide bed with a black iron frame the two women sat, at the moment with their arms around each other in a tight embrace. The unknown woman, who had been speaking was in full view since she was facing him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered that Jane had an assistant; it had to be her. He had just not paid attention to her before, since his focus had been elsewhere, but he couldn't understand how he had missed her.

There were differences, but her mouth, nose and her eyes were familiar. Her hair was slightly darker, but the eyes were the same blue. The similarities were enough. He felt dread a sense of unease start to seep in at the corners of his mind, and he stared at her. Slowly he backed away and leaned against the wall opposite the open door. He had to get out.

Back in his chambers he slowly walked over to his desk and sat down on his chair. Questions like "how was this possible" and "a ghost from the past" he quickly discarded. It wasn't a ghost. Though the similarities were there, they were not the same. It wasn't her. The way she had expressed herself was probably a coincidence. She obviously had some sort of education and expressed an interest in politics. That was the simple explanation for it.

He turned his attention away from this disturbing discovery and concentrated on what he should do next. The obvious answer was to keep watching. He was curious about what the mortals were doing there in the desert, and he had nothing better to do. The delight over having the ability to move freely again was another reason to go to Midgard. It was tiring, but it didn't bother him. It would get better.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Darcy leaned back as far as she could in her chair and pulled her laptop down in her lap, tuning out the voices around her. They turned in to an incomprehensible "mwa-mwa-mwa", just as the grown ups in Peanuts, when she stopped listening, not trying to understand what they were talking about.

As far as meetings went, these faculty meetings were the worst ones. She had to be there because she was Jane's assistant, but there was very little she could contribute, and everyone in this room knew it and treated her accordingly. Academics could be such pricks, she thought.

Luckily they had wifi in this place, and since she was at least trusted with a password to it, she accessed the internet to do some mindless surfing. She glanced up from the screen, as she always had a habit of doing to not seem completely disinterested, noticed that Jane was talking, and forced herself to concentrate for a moment.

". . . many are showing an interest for this project but I simply can't bring them all in on this. I actually need to work too, not babysit some kid," Jane said with a steely edge to her voice.

"We understand this, but I assure you, he's quite extraordinary, which can't be said about other people you have decided to employ," a man in a navy blue slipover said, whose name Darcy had forgotten. No wait, it was Daniels. Asshole Daniels now, she decided.

"Not to belittle Ms Lewis, but her involvement in this was not something I could choose. I must say though, considering this is not only a science project but also involves dealings with aliens and the Avengers, she's the best qualified person for the position." Jane leaned forward and glared at Asshole Daniels. "I can't have people around on this project who freak out if we have visitors from Asgard, or who can't handle Ms Romanoff or Mr. Stark stopping by, without squealing like a pig. Ms Lewis might not be an astrophysicist, but she can handle Asgardians and Mr. Stark." A lopsided smile spread over Jane's features. "But I'll see him. Do you have his credentials so I can look at them before I see him?"

Asshole Daniels dug out some papers and handed them to Jane across the table. Darcy gave him her best scowl and slapped her laptop shut as she leaned forward to take a peek at the document in front of Jane. She quickly surmised that whoever this person was, he was a really smart one and European, and he apparently also was working on the same things as Jane was. Her gut dropped when she saw his age. Only a couple of years older than her, and already a Ph.D. How did they do it, those Europeans? Not even Jane had managed to finish her Ph.D. that early. She glanced at Jane who seemed to have put on her best poker face.

"I'll meet him," she said. "With Director Fury and Ms Lewis." She was all business like now. Asshole Daniels and his sidekick, now dubbed Prick Reed by Darcy, scowled at her.

"We can vouch for-," Prick Reed started saying.

"I'm sure you can." Jane cut him off. "It's just that I need to have S.H.I.E.L.D. with me on this. And Darcy is to be his colleague, so it's only fair that she gets to meet him too." She gave the two men a smarmy smile. "If that's all, I'd like to get back to my work. Gentlemen," she said and rose. Darcy made a less graceful imitation of her boss, and followed her out the door.

As the door closed behind her Darcy hissed, "You don't need Fury's approval. Way to go, by the way."

Jane glanced at Darcy as she strode down the corridor. "No, I don't. If he can stand Fury's glare I'm more willing to accept his application, but really, I think Fury needs to be in on whomever I employ." She stopped and faced Darcy. "At this point I think we need to be careful too. I can at least spread the blame if he turns out to be an imposter. And what do you mean by 'way to go'?"

"You handled them like a pro, _El Jefe_. I'm really proud of you. Soon you'll boss around Fury like the Queen of England," she grinned. "And... imposter?" Darcy asked.

"Boss around Fury? Not likely." Jane shook her head. "This kid could also be controlled by someone else," Jane continued. "You know what happened to Erik."

Darcy looked down on the floor. Yes she knew. "But isn't Loki supposed to face some punishment in Asgard?" she asked and looked back up at Jane.

"Supposed to, yes. What that means we don't know. Until I can be certain he poses no threat to us with his mind games, I need to be careful."

Darcy crossed her arms. "How do you know I'm not being mind-controlled then?" she asked.

Jane grinned. "I don't think Loki would set out to conquer us ants through barista coffee." Darcy chuckled. "Seriously though, no, I can't know for sure. I just think he'd prefer to waste his time and energy on someone who could do his dirty work for him, which makes mind controlled Darcy less likely. Another great reason to keep you as my assistant, by the way."

"Thanks, I guess," Darcy said and made a face. "Have you ever thought _you_ could be the one he goes after?" she asked.

"I'm surprised he didn't when he stopped by," Jane said and resumed walking.

"But Erik didn't know Loki was putting thoughts in his mind. Not at first. How do you know you're not . . . under some sort of influence?" Darcy caught up with Jane and tried to keep her pace.

"I don't. No one can know. I just hope that you could tell me if I'm suddenly doing weird things." Jane gave Darcy a quick look. "You are a lot more important than those academic twits in this department think. They just think this is a scientific project, plain and simple. They don't know about Erik, and I can't tell them since that's classified." Jane pushed open the glass doors at the end of the corridor and headed for a set of stairs. "It's not their business, Darcy. It's my decision, so you don't have to care about what they think." Jane picked up her cell phone and started tapping on its screen as she walked down the stairs.

"So we need to stay here then?" Darcy asked.

"Probably. I'll call Fury first," Jane replied and put the phone to her ear.

"Great," she sighed quietly and hopped down the stairs after Jane.

* * *

Darcy slumped down in what had become her chair whenever they stayed in this particular university campus apartment. She flipped her laptop open and stared at the screen as she was pondering what to do next. There wasn't much work-related she could do when they were in town, but she decided to do what little she could. She sat up straight and brought up the data sheet she was supposed to deal with next and started going over the data, pondering what kind of database model she should use first. Tilting her head slightly when she spotted a group of numbers standing out from the rest of the data, she started tapping on the keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Jane asked as she came in from the terrace and plopped down on the other side of the table, putting her phone on the table.

"Queries," Darcy replied, tapping away.

"Really?" Jane rose from her chair and came around the table to stand behind Darcy. Leaning on her left hand which she had put on the table next to the laptop she studied the screen.

"That looks odd," Jane said and pointed at the screen.

"I know. I need to make several queries, I think," Darcy replied absentmindedly.

Jane smiled at her. "I remember a time when you'd claim to not understand anything of this."

Darcy huffed. "I still don't."

"I beg to differ. You obviously spotted this just by looking at the data, realising what the logical course would be and started making the necessary queries. I'd say you've come a long way," Jane replied as she straightened her back and put her hand on Darcy's shoulder.

Darcy had to admit that Jane had a point. Once her internship had ended, which was fairly soon after the Thor incident, Jane had told her that she wanted to keep her as assistant. It didn't really sound genuine to Darcy, since Jane for the most part had been more irritated with her than not, plus the fact that she was a Poli-Sci, not an astrophysicist.

She had at first turned Jane down, only to realise she was accused of plagiarism by her department. Her world came tumbling down around her as she initially tried to prove she was innocent, only to face the proof, water tight by the look of things and completely outrageous since she knew she hadn't done what she was accused of. When she was at the bottom, Jane had called her and told her she had heard of the accusations, and that she might be able to sway the department with a little help from S.H.I.E.L.D. _If_ Darcy accepted a position as Jane's assistant.

After some crying, she accepted, and the plagiarism charges were dropped. One dreary late autumn day she had put down her bags in Jane's New Mexico lab, resigning herself to not not be in charge of her own life. Jane had dropped whatever she had been doing and pulled her along to Izzy's for an unusual heart to heart, where she admitted she had been hard pressed to convince Darcy to become her assistant. She revealed the foul play behind the plagiarism accusations, and apologised for her part in all of this.

"I didn't like it," Jane declared. "But I also must admit that I would rather have you here than a MIT brainiac."

"Really?" Darcy said suspiciously. "You've mostly been irritated with me."

Jane had sighed. "I know and I apologise for that too. I'm not used to having people around me, having to explain myself and tell people what to do, and think about what they know and don't know. But the bottom line is, I doubt anyone else would be a fit for this position. You've met Thor, you have dealt with S.H.I.E.L.D. and know what potentially is out there, even if you don't have the hang of the actual theories. I need that more than anything else, Darcy." she smiled. "Besides, queries are something you _can_ do, and I have noticed you have an affinity for anything computer related, despite that Poli-Sci degree of yours."

"Hey, just because you've studied social sciences doesn't mean you're an idiot with technology!" Darcy had huffed.

"I know," Jane had smiled in reply.

Agent Coulson probably hadn't expected Jane to reveal S.H.I.E.L.D.'s dirty tricks, but as it was, he didn't seem to care as long as Darcy was being where she was, in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s opinion, should be, in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico. He was always unfazed by the killing glares Darcy shot at him, whenever he showed up. Just before he was killed he actually addressed it, and told her that he didn't mind her being angry with him as long as he was allowed to keep an eye on her, to keep her from getting killed. This had shut Darcy up quite effectively, and when she heard of his death, she couldn't help feeling a bit guilty for being such an ass towards him.

Puente Antiguo was a dull place really. Aside from work, there was little you could do. Grab a beer in the local bar, drive out into the desert and gaze at the stars, or play computer games and read. Sometimes she dragged Jane along to Santa Fe or Albuquerque, to visit friends and go out dancing. Once she managed to coerce Jane into coming along, it turned out that Jane actually enjoyed being social, and Darcy managed to convince her that she needed to get out more often.

"It's good for creativity to not think of science once in a while," she declared, and Jane grudgingly agreed.

Jane's tiny caravan was swapped for a single wide trailer home, situated on a plot on the outskirts of town, where both women had resided, sometimes visited by Erik. They had not known what he was working on at the time, only that S.H.I.E.L.D. had him in their grip too. That made them all feel more like a family, since they were dealing with the same situation, more or less. Later, much later, after the New York debacle, Erik came down to New Mexico, traumatised and quiet. He had stayed with them, helping Jane with her work. Bit by bit he revealed what had happened, and Darcy often caught him watching Jane and surmised he was worried.

She hadn't had the ties with Erik that Jane had, but she often sought him out, because she had a feeling he needed it. It horrified her to learn what had happened and the view she formed on Loki was not a favourable one, to say the least.

It eventually became her general life, to do queries and in time also to do the basic analysis of what came out of them, while also becoming the quartermaster of the household, paying bills, buying groceries (often dragging one or both of her trailer family along), and making sure their home was cleaned every once in a while. She also decorated their tiny porch with some sun powered Christmas lights, a long wreath of fake flowers and a wind chime made of bamboo. It felt more like a home that way she explained when asked about it. Life had a rhythm.

"So when do we get to meet this-" Darcy leaned forward to glance at the credentials on the table, "Ian Boothby?"

"Fury is coming here tomorrow. He was 'coincidentally' in the neighbourhood," Jane made quotation marks with her fingers, "so he could spare us an hour. I swear, that's his super power, being in the right place at the right time," Jane continued and went over the chair she vacated moments ago to sit down again.

Darcy chuckled. "Could be. I was betting on that death glare though."

"That has yet to kill anyone. He uses a gun, Darcy," Jane said.

"So does Natasha," Darcy replied.

"Hmm, I know. I wonder if she's coming too," Jane said, staring out through the open terrace door.

"Probably. She's been shadowing the Cyclops ever since Coulson was murdered."

Natasha was everything Darcy wasn't, and through the general rule seemed to imply that Darcy should be envious of the Russian woman, she wasn't. If anything, she was more of a fangirl actually. Natasha often accompanied the Director, and by now they all were on more or less friendly terms with her. Natasha would pry somewhat, probably as part of her job, but she was always civil and on occasion she also smiled at Darcy's jokes. Darcy even had her cell phone number, which made her feel a bit more important than she normally would. _She_ had Ms Romanova's number. Pity she had no one to really brag to. Contrary to popular belief, she understood when she was supposed to keep her mouth shut. When she had blundered it had been because that filter between her mouth and her brain was missing sometimes. It didn't mean she didn't know, just that she sometimes spoke before thinking.

"I wish we knew what's going on," Jane said wistfully.

Darcy didn't need to ask what Jane meant. "Sooner or later," she replied prosaically.

"I know that," Jane said, a touch irritated.

Darcy sighed. "We've been over this already. There was a reason why he couldn't come. Plus, S.H.I.E.L.D. put us in detention."

"It wasn't detention. We were in Norway," Jane replied and looked back at Darcy.

"If that's not detention, I know not what is. They can pimp it with a private jet, a luxury hotel, a fat check – and that really made me suspicious – it doesn't change the fact that we were kept in luxury custody. I get why they did it, and I have to say I was really happy we weren't anywhere close to where that jerk was, Thor's brother." Jane nodded and shifted her gaze and stared down at her feet. Darcy rose and trotted around the table and put her arms around Jane. "Did you ever think about the fact that once it was over, when that alien invasion was stumped, he had to leave? Seeing you with Loki in tow? Not an option. You know what Erik told us."

One of the things Erik finally had addressed one evening, as they all were seated at the dinner table in their trailer in New Mexico, had been Loki's thoughts on Jane. Quietly he had told them about the glowing hatred Loki harboured and the plans he'd had for her. Especially the detailed accounts how he was going to use Jane to hurt Thor were difficult to hear, and Jane paled the more Erik told her.

"I'm not joking Jane. They'd better hamper his abilities in Asgard and lock him up, or he'll come here, even if it's a detour, and do exactly what he shared with me," he said heavily.

"Why did he share them with you?" Darcy had asked.

"I'm the closest to a family Jane has." He reached out over the table and put his hand over Jane's. "I love you like you were my own daughter, Jane. He knew this and I think that's why he decided to share this."

"What an asshole," Darcy growled, angry about the fact that she really couldn't do much about the situation. Even if Loki were within reach, she was just a girl whose biggest asset was talking too much. Pity that couldn't do much about aliens posing as gods.

Back in the university apartment Darcy let Jane go and straightened. "Have you considered taking Donald up on his dinner proposal?" she asked.

Jane snorted. "No. I told you, it wasn't a good fit."

Darcy crossed her arms. "Really? So why is he asking you out then?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jane replied with a shrug.

"Why didn't it work?" Darcy pressed on.

"He's a brilliant physician, but really, he had a tendency to forget about my existence." Jane made a face.

"Huh. Just like another person I know then," Darcy grinned. Jane glared at her but didn't respond. "It wouldn't hurt to see him. I know you, boss. You're getting that look about you, when it's time to get out among people. And we're here and he wanted to take you out for dinner. If nothing else, you need to get out of here for a couple of hours." Darcy reached out and picked up Jane's phone and unlocked it.

"Hey! How do you know my code?" Jane exclaimed and jumped out of the chair and lunged at the phone.

Darcy instinctively whipped her arm back and up as she tried to keep Jane at bay. "Because you always use the same codes. You should be happy I'm the one who's your assistant, because I swear, all the times you could have been faceraped? I have lost count by now." She jumped around keeping the phone just out of Jane's reach.

"Give me my damn phone!" Jane shouted as Darcy, without any grace, jumped up on a chair and then on to the table.

"I will, if you promise to give Donald a call!" Darcy shouted back and laughed.

Jane stopped in front of the table and looked up at Darcy with a scowl. "You do realise I could rip you off your feet, don't you?" she asked. "It's simple physics."

"Yes, but then I'd drop your phone and you don't want that to happen," Darcy smugly answered.

Jane reached out her hand. "Give it to me."

"Call him," Darcy said as she tapped at the smartphone screen.

"Darcy!" Jane said angrily.

Darcy handed her the phone with the screen towards Jane, with Donald's profile brought up on it. "Call him," she urged and hunched down, looking at Jane as if she tried to convince Jane to give the man a call by using will power. Jane stared at the phone as moments passed by. "Go on! He won't bite!" Darcy said.

"Okay, I will," Jane replied and walked out through the terrace door as she pressed the call button. Darcy grinned at her back and slipped down on the floor. She had more queries to make.

* * *

It was about 10 pm when Darcy heard the apartment door open and close, a bit too loudly. She dropped the tablet in her lap and turned her attention towards the hallway "Hey?" she called out. The sound of someone kicking their shoes off was heard, and moments later Jane showed up in the small common area of the apartment. She did not look happy. "Everything okay?" Darcy asked and raised her eyebrows. Jane stomped over to the couch and dropped down next to Darcy.

"Depends," Jane replied. "If I want to know everything about Thor, Donald Blake is the man for me," Jane said drily.

Darcy put the tablet next to her on the couch, pulled up her left leg and turned towards Jane. "No! You've got to be kidding me! He did not talk about Thor the entire evening!" she exclaimed.

"Yes he did. I got an account of everything Thor did while he was here the last time, how amazing Thor is in every way, and how much Donald admires him." Jane dropped her head on to the backrest of the couch and sighed.

"Donald's a fangirl?" Darcy said in disbelief.

Jane snorted. "Apparently."

"You didn't tell him you know Thor, right?" Darcy said and stifled a laugh bubbling in her chest.

Jane turned her head to look at Darcy. "Of course not." She heaved a deep sigh. "It's classified. I'm pretty certain I'm being watched too, so I'm keeping my mouth shut."

Darcy nodded. They were under surveillance, they all knew it. It wasn't like they could tell if someone was actually watching them, but sometimes they would find a bug, and though Darcy always threw them in the garbage disposal, she knew it was fruitless. As soon as they left their lab or the trailer it was most likely replaced. She just had to do it. Show that she wasn't happy about it.

Jane suddenly giggled. "But I was tempted to tell him that I was working on creating a Bifrost, with a little help from our own God of Thunder."

Darcy snorted. "We would never be able to get rid of him if you did."

"Probably not." Jane pressed the heels of her hands on her eyes. "But if I hear so much as a peep about Thor the coming week, I'll... Oh hell. I can't even come up with a decent punishment," Jane growled and let her hands drop to her side.

Darcy put on her best innocent face. "You could leave that to me, you know. I think I can come up with something fitting."

Jane threw her a look and sighed again. "It was actually getting easier. I'm almost over being angry with him. And I'm not kidding myself, I was infatuated. I don't love him. You can't love someone you don't know, and I don't really know Thor after all."

Darcy nodded. "Nope. That love at first sight thing? Not realistic."

"But it isn't. It's my own idea of who Thor is, that I like. He's... not like that," Jane continued.

"Absolutely not." Darcy shook her head. "He's not the owner of the most fab abs I've ever seen. He's really dumb too. Yes he is."

Jane turned her head to glare at Darcy. "You know he isn't. Dumb, I mean."

"Really? He seems to solve most things by using that hammer. Not the most subtle of approaches," Darcy replied.

"We talked a whole night about magic, well, about science really, but you know he said that magic and science are the same thing. He told me I was right! And he encouraged me!" Jane stressed.

"Jane, are you aware that you're defending him?" Darcy said coyly and grinned.

Jane's eyes went wide and she clamped her mouth shut. "I-I... Damn!" Jane winced and pressed her eyes shut. "When he shows up I'll chew him out," she said darkly.

Darcy chuckled. "No you won't. You'll go 'Thor!' and throw yourself around his neck."

"I will not!" Jane said hotly.

Darcy smiled knowingly at Jane and turned around to pick up her tablet. "I'm popping into bed," she announced and rose from the couch. "Sweet dreams," she said over her shoulder as she sauntered off to her room, ignoring the daggers in Jane's glare.

Once inside her room, she leaned her back against the door, and closed her eyes, feeling that sadness well up again. Thor might take a while to get back to them, but she had no doubt he would show up, eventually. Jane would get her prince back, she was sure of it.

Darcy however, was just the plain assistant whose only skill was being snarky. Perhaps she would meet some bespectacled guy, as plain and unimportant as she was, and . . . what? Why was she kidding herself? As long as she was entangled with S.H.I.E.L.D. she could forget about men. At least any outsiders. The ones who were on the inside only thought she was stupid anyway, so no hopes there. Sometimes she admitted she felt quite lonely.

She drew a deep breath and lifted her chin defiantly. Darcy Lewis, you're not feeling sorry for yourself, she told herself. And you're not plain. But you need to work on that wardrobe. Definitely work on that wardrobe. And get a snazzy haircut. Or more curls. She marched off to her bed and flopped on to it and pulled the cover over herself and turned on the tablet to read some more before sleep took her.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

******Author's Note: **Before heading deeper into this story, I'm going to mention that characters will die in this story. It's not happening in this chapter, but it will, eventually.

Now, to Asgard!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Thor was glaring ominously on the horizon, as he had done so many times before, ever since Loki and he had arrived in Asgard. He had hoped his brother would have the decency to pull his head out of his posterior and realise his mistakes, but there had been no sign of it. His father had managed to remain calm. How the All-Father managed this he did not know, during the heated discussion where Loki and Thor had raged at each other, which somehow had become their usual fashion ever since his banishment.

It frustrated Thor to no end that it was so impossible to reach Loki. He was hurt by it. Again and again he would try to reach out, tell him that no revelation about Loki's parenthood could change the fact that they _were_ brothers, and that he would always care about Loki as he had always done. Loki was his little brother and his closest friend. Nothing could change this. Not even what Loki had done.

It wasn't as if Thor couldn't understand Loki's anger. Loki had never been a standard Æsir, but he was clever, and many times his knives and tricks had saved them all in very dangerous situations. Thor regretted his words about Loki's trickery, and the way he had always belittled Loki's abilities. Granted, Loki had always responded in turn, sometimes with practical jokes, but mostly with words, often turning the table on him, but now it was painfully clear that Loki had been struggling with the Asgardian standard, and he, his brother, had not made it any easier.

When he had learned what had happened in the weapons vault, the revelation of the astonishing truth that no one but Odin and Frigga knew about, he too had been upset. Not so much with the secrecy, but because the only way for Loki to have a normal life, was to keep his origins a secret. And the worst part was that he, Thor, who always thought of himself as fundamentally benevolent, hand been part of why Odin couldn't be open about who Loki was. He had depreciated their enemy, scorned them, and derided them as lesser creatures, unworthy of even basic respect. He sighed. Of course all of this mattered when Loki found out whom his father was. Thor couldn't quite grasp why Loki had turned on Jotunheim with such malevolence, but he definitely understood Loki's actions in Midgard.

Once they had arrived back in Asgard, Thor had tried to reach out, as he had done several times in Midgard, but was met with the same anger, now with a streak of anguish and desperation. In his frustration Thor had even let loose his powers, and a thunderstorm bore down on Asgard for hours. It had been in vain, of course. Loki had been as unreachable as ever. Thor looked down at his hands. He was so powerful and yet, so helpless in this situation.

Loki had defiantly faced Odin, and the words between them had been harsh. Odin had made an account of all Loki's wrongdoings, who in turn threw them back in the All-Farther's face, not without skill. Thor knew Loki had a point. In the end his father had sent Mother and him away, and Thor had left with a heavy heart. He expected the worst, that Loki would be stripped of his immortality and would be sent to die. If that were to happen, Thor decided he would leave Asgard and follow his brother. He would not leave him to face such a fate alone. But it had not turned out that way, much to his surprise.

Loki had been chained up, but in a cell where he couldn't use his magic. The precise workings of this were unknown to him, but the only way to keep Loki here would be by taking away his abilities to flee. It had now been months since Loki had been chained in the cell and rumours about him losing sanity were starting to spread.

Despite the All-Father's decision that no one was allowed to visit Loki, Thor had defied his command and been to see him several times. He had watched his brother sleep restlessly with a heavy heart, not wanting to rouse him. Thor had for some time feared for Loki's sanity, long before he ended up chained in the bowels of the mountain under the shiny city. The rumours fuelled this fear. His brother losing sanity was not acceptable.

There were other concerns too, to most other people more pressing than Loki's immediate condition. The war with Jotunheim, started by him and escalated by Loki, and the invasion of Midgard, led by his brother, had stirred those opposing Asgard. The unrest he had sensed before he was banished had turned in to full scale chaos. He sighed and guilt came crushing down on him. Like so many times before, he wished he could undo his actions. Had he not gone to Jotunheim, Loki wouldn't be chained under Asgard, Loki's attack on Jotunheim wouldn't have happened and he wouldn't have lead an army to conquer Midgard. Guilt turned in to anger and he wished he could just smash something, but he didn't. It wouldn't change anything. This was all his doing, he thought, and it was he who had to set things right again.

Reports had come in, talking about enemy forces gathering, and plotting against Asgard itself. He had been busy organising the defence of Asgard, no small task with the Bifrost broken, but at every moment he missed his brother. His council had always been important to Thor and he missed it. His friends tried to fill the void, and their efforts were at least making up for some of what Thor missed, but it could never be the same.

Lady Sif had been the most vocal one, always reminding him of all the times when Loki had played tricks on him, and though she was right, he had grown tired of listening to her. It had put a strain on their relationship. More than once had he lashed out at her, sending her away, in that moment vowing he would never listen to one more word from her lips again. She was loyal though, almost to a fault, so he had always forgiven her once he had calmed down. Not once had she mentioned it, but the unasked question about Jane was also driving a wedge between them. He had always considered her a friend, a sister he never had, but lately he had started to wonder if she saw him that way, or if she secretly harboured feelings of another kind.

The situation with the Warriors Three was less complicated, but not without its chafing issues. Each in his own way, they could drive him to the edge of his patience. He couldn't help but feeling protective towards Darcy, whom Fandral hadn't forgotten about. He loved Fandral, but he also knew of his fickle nature, and he didn't want to see Jane's friend hurt.

Not that it would happen if the situation didn't change. With Bifrost still not operational, their means of travel were limited. It irked him, because it was in his nature to be proactive, to strike first before a problem got out of hand. The Tesseract, glowing in the weapon vault, could be used, but Odin had decided it was not to be used for travelling between the realms, and the one who could travel long distances or send someone to the other realms, was now chained with his powers impaired.

He had to admit to himself that he had very selfish reasons to travel through the realms. His last visit to Midgard had been a necessity, not a social call, and he had been pleased that S.H.I.E.L.D. had kept Jane out of harm's way. But still, he would have given much for the chance to at least see her, even if it only had been briefly. He had made a promise, and he was a man of his word.

Not without some effort he tore his thoughts away from Jane and focused on the situation at hand. He decided he had to speak to Loki. It was not acceptable if his brother was parting with his sanity, punishment or not. Tearing his glare away from the horizon he turned and marched off towards the depths under the shining city where Loki was kept.

* * *

The cold misery of the rock ate at him as he walked through the corridors underneath the palace. This was not a place fit for a prince of Asgard, no matter what he had done, and most certainly not for his brother. Now he really was locked up, until someone had use of him. It wasn't right.

He stopped in front of the guards blocking the entrance to Loki's jail. Though he hadn't meant to, he drew himself up to his full height and planted his feet firmly on the floor, every inch the Keeper of Mjölnir.

"How is my brother?" he asked, not able to get a complete grip on his emotions. His anger was clearly visible.

The guards glanced at each other before one of them opened his mouth to speak. "He seems agitated, my lord. Some would perhaps say that his mind is slipping from him." The man looked down. "He has conversations in his sleep, as if someone were in the room with him, though no one is. Sometimes he writhes in pain, though there is nothing visibly harming him." The man closed his mouth and kept his eyes on the ground.

All of this sounded a lot like magic at work, entirely possible considering the force nullifying Loki's magic wasn't in use as he slept. Someone who wanted to get to Loki but couldn't when he was awake would obviously try when he was asleep. He decided he had to see Loki and this time also to talk to him. Thor wanted to get him out of there.

"This must end. I cannot allow it to continue. Let me pass," he ordered.

The guards stared at him. "The All-Father has expressively ordered us to not let you in! Heimdall has spoken of your visits. My lord, we cannot . . ." The guard who had spoken turned pale as Thor turned his glare at him.

"Leave the All-Father to me. Or do you wish me to summon Mjölnir, and break my way through?" he said with a cutting voice. The two guards looked helplessly at him at first, but when he took one step towards them, they yielded. The doors opened and he walked through and came to a halt as the doors closed behind him.

On the floor in front of him sat Loki, but not the Loki people would remember. His hair had grown and he had a beard, he was unkempt and dirty, and dressed in mere scraps of clothing, a shirt and simple pants, cut off just below the knee. He was chained, of course, both his hands and feet. Thor's lips thinned. It was completely unnecessary to keep him chained like an animal, when his abilities were stumped.

Loki didn't look up, just sat slumped staring at the floor, his hair partially covering his face, and Thor's heart ached at the sight. With a few long strides he reached Loki and sunk down on his knees in front of his brother.

"Loki," was all he managed to say with a cracked voice.

"Why have you come? To gloat? It took you a while, I must say," Loki said with a hollow voice.

Thor reached out his hands and put them on Loki's shoulders. "I am not. I would not. The All-Father has made clear no one must see you, but I have not heeded his command. Unbeknownst to you I have been here; I have seen you," he replied.

Loki looked up, revealing hollowed eyes, staring at Thor. That all familiar fire flickered in his eyes, the one that always burned when Loki was angry. "I have nothing. Your father has taken from me all that I am, and he has done it twice. Once as a child and now. I have nothing left," he said.

Thor frowned. "This is not a permanent state. It will take some time to recuperate from this but you will get your magic back," he relied.

"As if he would let me go! He took the monster back with him in hope it could be turned in to something else, but a monster will always be a monster. I am still and will always be, Laufey's son. He will, in his misguided mercy, keep me alive, until..." Loki closed his mouth. "Did you know there is still one thing I can do? One ability that apparently this _thing_, taking from me the means to protect myself, doesn't take from me?"

Before Thor's eyes Loki changed in to the familiar Jötunn blue with red eyes. To his surprise Loki was still himself, not fully transformed in to a Frost Giant. He gazed at his brother for long moments, but his guilt forced him to drop his eyes to the floor.

"What? Am I so horrible to look at?" Loki asked with a raw voice. "This," he looked down on his arms and hands, "is the only thing I can still do. The ability to change between my birth form and the one that I've lived in all my life. I'm not even a proper Frost Giant, like my kin. I'm an abomination, here as well as on Jotunheim," he continued bitterly.

Thor looked up and smiled. "No, my brother. You are not an abomination. You are my brother, no matter who brought you in to this world. I don't care about that."

Loki stared at him, his face stormy with emotion. "Don't lie, Thor," he spat. "You have always been one of those who vowed to kill them all. Or have you conveniently forgotten about that, _brother_?"

"I will not deny that my views on Frost Giants haven't been favourable. I have said and done many things that are questionable. What has been done cannot be undone, but there is always a possibility for change. I have changed my opinions about a great many things." Thor paused and looked kindly at Loki. "I have missed you, brother."

The swirl of emotions, anger, hate, resentment, bitterness, continued to march over Loki's face, but glimpses of hope flashed by, and as the two times before that Thor recalled, his eyes welled up with tears. Oh my brother, Thor thought. Why is it so hard to let go of the anger?

He pulled Loki in to his arms and embraced him, somewhere registering that though he was cool to the touch, he wasn't actually freezing Thor's skin the way ordinary Frost Giants did. But maybe that was something they only did in battle?

Loki didn't protest, to Thor's great relief, but he was like a violin string, which could break at any moment. Thor had to find a way to reach Loki.

"You know how I have never been the one gifted with words, nor do I often think before I act. I sometimes lack the ability to filter what I feel and think. Of late though, I have been forced to. So many things have happened and I lost my most valued friend, who always would give me sound advice. You were always invaluable to me. Loki, you still are." As Thor spoke he felt Loki slump slightly. There was hope, he thought.

"My mind is invaded," Loki whispered.

"By whom?" Thor asked worriedly, as he kept his arms around Loki.

"I fell, through time and space." Loki was still whispering. Thor struggled internally with his wish to interrupt, and won. "My only path back was to make a pact. And I did, with the hope that I could thwart it at some point. I was brought back, brought to bring Midgard to its knees. The entity I made the pact with is strong, and his influence infinite. When I ended up here, rendered powerless against him, he found a way to invade my mind at night when this dampening field is not in use. I cannot block him out of my mind." Loki pulled back and stared wildly at Thor. "I have not lost my sanity."

The anger Thor had felt simmering in his belly flared hot. He could not permit this to continue. It had to end. He wanted to do as he always had, rage, but he realised it wouldn't help Loki.

"This can't go on. I won't allow it," he said, keeping his voice carefully in check, as he made the only decision he could make in this situation. He would defy the All-Farther. Again.

He let go of Loki and stood abruptly. Loki bowed his head but said nothing, sagging slightly. He believes I'll leave him here and make an appeal to Father, Thor realised grimly. Instead he reached his arm out to his side, hand open, without reflecting over the fact that his powers shouldn't function inside this chamber while Loki was awake.

Moments passed, but then a loud crack could be heard as Mjölnir crashed through the door. Thor immediately raised the hammer and hit the chains, which shattered under the hammer's force. He rose and pulled Loki up with him, who stared at him in disbelief.

"Come. It's time to leave this place," he said darkly. Loki swayed where he stood with his eyes clenched shut, and then his legs gave out and he started to fall to the floor. Thor caught him and hoisted him up in his arms, and stalked over to the doors, kicked them open and walked out of the prison.

He half expected his father to appear, summoned by Heimdall, questioning his actions. But nothing happened, which made him suspect this had been the plan all along. Realisation hit him, that for some reason he had been able to summon Mjölnir. He shouldn't have been. The guards had no power over it, only the All-Farther.

He felt played, but pushed that thought away from him. There was always a purpose to what his father did; he just didn't know what it was yet. He carried the unconscious Loki to the palace furnace and found the smithy and ordered the iron around Loki's limbs removed.

Unsurprisingly he met no opposition and the iron swiftly was taken off. As Thor again lifted Loki in his arms he came to with a groan, eyes slivers of green. Guessing his feelings, Thor didn't speak, but continued to the chambers that were Loki's. He didn't bother with niceties but kicked the door open and stomped inside. Doors could be mended, after all. A servant materialised, looking anxiously at them as he set down Loki on his bed. He straightened and glared at the servant.

"I want him washed, groomed and properly dressed, fed if he's hungry." His voice boomed through the chamber, rattling everything that was loose, aided by his force, the rage he could command. The message was clear, obey or face the full wrath of Thor. The servant quickly bowed, accepting the order. Thor turned towards Loki, who was watching him.

"I will leave you now, but I will speak to father," he said. Loki looked away, and closed his eyes. "This will end," Thor insisted. Loki opened his eyes and looked back at Thor, eyes full of emotions, hard to decipher. Thor reached out and put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "It will end," he repeated, full of confidence. He squeezed Loki's shoulder one last time and then stalked out of the chamber.

Loki looked up at the familiar ceiling above. In the background he heard servants speak quietly and move around, obeying the order Thor had given them. His mind was brimming with thoughts and emotions, all entangled like a yarn a cat had played with. The exhaustion got the better of him and his consciousness started to slip away. If he only could sleep soundly, for just one night, it would make it possible to untangle the mess and think straight.

Thor's affection had been like water in the desert and he loathed his weakness for it. But there it was, the truth. Thor would always be able to reach him, though if he had been his usual self, he would have been able to detach himself in the end. At present, he couldn't and at this moment he wasn't certain he wanted to either.

He felt someone tugging at his sleeve and he managed to resist slipping in to blessed unconsciousness and cracked his eyes open. It was the servant Thor had given his orders to.

"My lord, can you walk?" he asked.

Loki inhaled sharply and tried to will himself to sit, with mixed results. He managed to get up on his elbows, but his head reeled and he slumped back on the pillow. Calming himself with a couple of deep breaths he finally said, "It appears I'm unable to even sit."

"I will arrange help, my lord," the servant said and disappeared.

This was unacceptable, but there was little he could do but bear it. Feeling his consciousness slipping again he concentrated on staying awake, losing even that battle.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

**Author's notes: **You think you know how ratings work? I have bad news for many out there. You don't. I never implied I did, because I'm not American. I'm not even Anglo-Saxon. It naturally makes it a bit tricky to rate texts properly, but it's quite clear many who have grown up with these kind of ratings, seems to struggle with them too. After a long-winded discussion about this over at Tumblr, I have decided on a few changes.

I have bumped this up from Teen, which is the equivalent to PG-13 more or less, to M. This was first and foremost because my characters do use profanities, just as a vast majority of real life people do, and because I'm not shying away from describing violence and gruesome situation. I like to get up close and personal when it matters, so to speak. I have also decided to emphasise the romance more than I originally planned on, and I'm not talking about the low-key Thor/Jane one here. Since I've already bumped the rating up for violence and language, I could just as well add some adult situations. However, don't expect porn. This will not go beyond M and the rules concerning adult my beta Foster Theory is enjoying the Canadian hospitality at the moment, and I had a writer related crisis, this has been under the scrutiny of Rene Austen too. Go read her stories. She's a brilliant example on good story telling not going beyond a Teen rating. Yes. They do exist.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Ian Boothby turned out to be a slim and tall young man, without glasses but with a certain amount of charm. Without hesitation he crossed the room with a few strides when he entered it, zeroing in on Darcy first, shooting her a winning smile as they shook hands. Jane smiled politely but remained unfazed. Darcy couldn't quite keep the same cool and she was pleased she had made the effort this morning to dress better than she usually did, and applied the make up with more care than otherwise.

Jane had thrown her an amused look when she appeared from the bathroom, ready to hit the cafeteria.

"Trying to impress the Director today?" she asked with a smile.

Darcy snorted. "Is it even possible?" she retorted as she pulled on her boots.

"Can't say," Jane said, fumbling with her coat.

Darcy straightened and pushed her hair of her face, and resumed a casual air. "I just decided I really need to shape up. Being stuck in Puente Antiguo has not done my wardrobe any favours but I intend to change this," Darcy smiled.

Jane raised an eyebrow at her as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"If I can sway that leather clad Cyclops, I guess that would be a bonus." Reaching for her own coat she continued, "I'm working on my image. Perhaps some day people will stop assuming I'm stupid and will get myself killed if they let me out of their sight." It came out a bit more sharp than she had intended.

Jane stopped at the door and turned around towards Darcy. "Darcy, you're not stupid, you know that," she said with a serious voice.

Darcy shrugged. "I know I'm not. But plenty of other people think so."

Jane reached out and put her hand on Darcy's wool-clad arm. "They are wrong. I don't care how you dress, but don't change because you're not dressing fancy enough for some people to take you seriously. In the end it's what you do that matters. You're doing a good job as my assistant and it matters to those to whom it should matter. Director Fury's not blind, you know," she said and snorted. "It's not like I'm all business like," she added and glanced down at herself.

Darcy gave Jane a pained smile. "I still think I need to update my wardrobe," she said. "God, I sound so superficial," she grumbled.

Jane squeezed her arm and let it go as she sighed and turned towards the door opening it. They walked the short distance to the cafeteria and picked up the standard breakfast offered and sat well away from the worst crowd.

"Okay, what's this about?" Jane asked and gripped the spoon. "Wanting to look nice is quite universal. Most people are at least somewhat vain." A brief self deprecating smile graced her lips. "From that perspective there's nothing silly about wanting to dress nicely, but you never struck me as one who are bothered by what people think about your wardrobe." She slowly started to eat her corn flakes.

Darcy slumped and looked down at her coffee. "It's silly," she replied.

Jane's eyebrows climbed upwards as she swallowed. "Is that what you _actually_ think, or what you're _supposed_ to think?" she asked. Darcy scowled. "So it's what you're _supposed_ to think," Jane concluded.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Darcy said and wrapped her hands around the coffee mug and lifted it to drink.

Jane sighed and put down her spoon. "Has someone said something to you?" she asked, with a furrowed brow. Her expression was slowly turning in to a more worried one.

"No," Darcy replied and put down the mug and picked up the fork next to her plate. "No one has said a word to me." She paused for a couple of moments and picked at the hash browns on her plate with the fork in her hand. "I don't want to talk about it with you because it concerns you." She looked up at Jane and smiled bleakly. "Don't get angry with me."

Thoughtfully Jane studied her assistant. "I'm not. I'm trying to figure out what I could have done to make you this insecure," she replied.

Darcy looked away and let her eyes sweep over the unknown faces around them. "I was just feeling a bit down yesterday, that's all," she tried to explain.

Jane pondered her answer. "Thor. And Donald. I went out yesterday and we were talking about Thor afterwards, and now you're all about 'image'."

Darcy looked down at her coffee. "I feel stupid," Darcy replied, misery creeping into her voice.

"For feeling a bit lonely?" Jane asked. Darcy nodded. "That's not stupid." Jane smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll meet someone. In time."

Darcy made a face. "In Puente Antiguo? I doubt it. Besides, as long as my soul belongs to S.H.I.E.L.D., I really can't date anyone not involved with S.H.I.E.L.D., and I don't think there are many within who would consider it."

Picking up her spoon again Jane continued, "You know, most don't even know you. Maybe you should ask Steve Rogers out some day." Jane grinned knowingly.

"Cap? Are you smoking something illegal? He's like . . . a super human and an Avenger and wouldn't even look in my direction," Darcy huffed.

"I don't think we're living in the same world. Steve's the nicest guy ever and I'm sure he thinks you are pretty," Jane said, scooping up some corn flakes and milk and moved the spoon to her mouth.

Darcy snorted. "My mouth and Steve in the same room? Poor guy, he wouldn't know where to look." She bit her lip as her cheeks started to turn crimson.

"You're not that bad, Darcy. And I think Steve could handle it, as long as you're nice to him," Jane smiled in response.

Darcy smiled weakly back. "I don't know. He probably don't even know who I am."

"Of course he does. Darcy, what we're doing is classified and if something happens, Fury will call on his people to deal with it, and that means, among others, Cap. Trust me, he knows who you are." Jane went back to her corn flakes.

"It's cute, this match-making thing you're doing, but I don't know... I'd feel so stupid, calling Steve. There must be tons of girls chasing him," Darcy said and put some hash browns and sausage in her mouth, chewing slowly.

Jane swallowed. "As far as I know, no. I mean, sure, there are probably girls who wouldn't mind dating him, but he's keeping a really low profile. He's not out socialising. At all."

"What's his problem?" Darcy asked and stabbed at a piece of sausage.

"For starters, all his friends have died. He's not feeling really at home. He is learning. I mean, he has the usual stuff now, cellphone, laptop... I hear he's got a tablet too, and Pepper says he's studying to catch up. Bottom line, he's alone and doesn't quite feel like he fits. I think he would be happy if you gave him a call," Jane said and scooped up the last of the corn flakes.

"I'll . . . think about it." Darcy studied the carbs and protein speared on her fork for a moment as she imagined herself picking up her phone, tapping in his number and then stupidly trying to make conversation. Jane smiled encouragingly back at her.

* * *

All thoughts of Cap were forgotten though when Ian Boothby took her hand in his and gave her his full attention, when he showed up for the meeting. He wasn't handsome in the classical way, but when he smiled she found herself smiling back.

Director Fury swept in to the room only minutes lately, as expected with Ms Romanova in tow. He let his one good eye settle on the young man, who simply gazed back, remaining calm. Introductions were made and to Darcy's surprise, Natasha slipped behind the Director and greeted both Jane and Darcy in a Russian way, by kissing them on the cheeks and asking how they were with a smile on her lips.

She then sat down at Darcy's elbow, quietly eyeing Dr. Boothby with a detached gaze. Darcy couldn't shake the feeling that this was not just because Natasha was happy to see them, but also a demonstration, showing the stranger that Darcy and Jane had people watching over them. Dr. Boothby didn't seem to be intimidated by her though, and met her gaze without hesitation.

"Right," Jane begun. "I don't know what the department has told you about what I'm doing-"

"They have told me you're working on a way to create a wormhole, but they haven't provided me with any details. I assume you're not giving them much in that respect, am I right?" He looked pointedly at Jane.

"No, I don't. For obvious reasons. I'm not going to give my academic colleagues a free ride here." She smiled thinly.

He nodded. "I must also point out that I'm not interested in being the department spy, so should you accept my application, I will not provide them with inside information," he continued, serious and businesslike.

Director Fury crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. "But they want you to be," he said.

Dr. Boothby nodded. "Of course they do. They don't have any insight in to this project, and people are feeling a bit, shall we say, left out?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "I definitely expected it. The reason why Director Fury and Ms Romanova are attending this meeting is because they represent S.H.I.E.L.D., the organisation funding this project. This is no ordinary project and if I choose to employ you, you must be aware that." Jane hesitated. "Unusual things might happen. There are some quite famous people who will stop by from time to time, and their privacy must be respected. Unfortunately we must ask you to accept the terms of the employment before you can have a look at anything regarding the project."

Dr. Boothby stared at her with an unreadable mien. "Do you understand the seriousness of this?" Director Fury asked.

He turned his gaze at the one eyed Director. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be here," he replied calmly.

Jane shot a glance at Darcy who met her eyes and raised her eyebrows slightly. "Your credentials are everything I could ask for, so I have no objections there. You are also recommended by the department, which actually is in your favour, believe it or not." Jane looked at the Director. "Is there anything in particular you wish to bring up?"

"Dr. Boothby. I understand you have completed your education in Europe?" Boothby nodded. "What brings you to the United States?" Nick Fury asked, not hiding his suspicion.

"Partly it's because I calculated it would be easier to find an interesting position with more funding here in the US, compared to Europe. It seems I'm not wrong," Dr. Boothby replied and looked solemnly at Fury who grudgingly nodded.

"Yes, it's true in general. This project also has adequate funding," the Director replied.

"The other part is because I am curious. I wish to experience other cultures," he said and smiled warmly, glancing over at Darcy. There was a hint of a twinkle, gone so quickly Darcy almost believed she had imagined it.

Natasha leaned over to Darcy. "Do you have his credentials here?" she whispered. Darcy nodded and reached for Jane's bag, pulled out the documents and handed them to Natasha, who quickly went over the details. She looked up and gave him a piercing look. "You have quite an international background," she said out loud. He nodded but didn't offer anything more.

Natasha handed Darcy the documents and she put them back in to Jane's bag. When she looked up again she couldn't miss the pissing contest of sorts going on between Dr. Boothby and Natasha, and Darcy decided to put an end to that.

"I was just wondering, if I can get your attention, please?" He turned his eyes to her, softening slightly. "Do you have a life?"

He was taken aback by her question and glanced away from her with a frown on his face. "I'm not sure I understand the question," he said once he looked at her again.

"I mean, we're pretty much married to this project and we have sold our souls to S.H.I.E.L.D. If you have any kind of real life out there, girlfriends, kids, a grandmother who is planning on crashing at your place from time to time, you need to reconsider this," Darcy said. In the corner of her eyes she saw Natasha smiling slightly and Jane glancing at her with a surprised look on her face. Nick Fury stared at the young man.

He tilted his head slightly as he looked intently at her, as if she had surprised him. "No, I have no such connections," he answered.

Nick Fury put his hands on his knees and leaned forward and looked over at the women next to him. "I think we have what we need for now," he said and turned back at Dr. Boothby. "We'll be in touch," he dismissed the young man.

Jane got out of her chair and shook hands with him and Darcy followed suit. Natasha was standing too, with her arms crossed demonstratively over her chest. Her feet were firmly planted on the floor, and she was clearly not interested in any pleasantries. The Director didn't even stand.

When the door closed behind the young man, Natasha turned towards the rest of the group. "I don't like this. I went over those papers, and it's the perfect balance between brilliance and flaw in them."

"I agree," Fury said and rose from his chair. "We need to check on this guy."

"Don't you always?" Darcy asked.

The Director gave her a once over, "Generally we do, though there have been occasions when we've had to ignore that particular detail." Darcy got the hint and crumpled slightly.

"That was unnecessary," Jane broke in with steel in her voice, as she glared at Fury.

"If you don't mind, I'll look in to it myself," Natasha said, addressing Fury. He nodded in reply.

"I'm heading to New York, but I will stop by in New Mexico next week. Until then," he said, gave them a small nod and strode out of the room. Natasha turned towards Darcy and gave her a long look.

"Be careful and watch your back," she said and gave them each a nod before she followed Director Fury.

Darcy slumped down in to the chair she just vacated. "He's an asshole," she said tonelessly.

"I know," Jane replied with a deep sigh. She leaned down and picked up her bag. "Come. Let's get the hell out of here."

"Yes Boss Lady. Love to," Darcy replied and got on her feet and followed Jane.

* * *

A week after the awkward meeting, Natasha had showed up in the desert without Director Fury, much to their surprise.

"Are you allowing him out of your sight?" Darcy had asked, not bothering to hide her amusement.

"He's a grown man. He can take care of himself," Natasha replied coolly and gave Darcy that trademark Natasha almost smile. Darcy had never really doubted it, so she simply nodded in reply.

Jane put down her little notebook on the nearest table and waved at Natasha. "Please. Have a seat," she said and slid in to one of the chairs herself. Natasha sat down next to her and Darcy brought over one of the office chairs that had wheels and sat on it.

Darcy looked quizzically at Natasha. "So? Did you find any murdered kittens in his closet?" she asked.

Natasha still had that slight amused look about her. "No. As far as I can tell, there is nothing indicating that anything is wrong here," she replied.

Jane released her breath. "Whew. That's a relief anyway," she said. "The more I have been thinking about it, the more the idea to have him on the project has grown on me. I've looked in to what he has written and I must say, I'm impressed."

Natasha nodded. "Based on what I have found I must recommend him for the position and I believe he would become an invaluable asset to this team," she said evenly.

"Why do I sense a 'but' in all of this?" Darcy asked.

Natasha grew serious as she let her eyes linger on Jane for a while, making her feel uneasy. She turned to look at Darcy, and now her eyes were piercing. "Maybe there is. Maybe not. At this point in time I have nothing more to say about it."

They spent the next hour informing Natasha about their progress. The first time they'd briefed Ms Romanova, Jane had tried the less scientific approach, but was quickly ordered to do it the proper way. "If it's unclear, I will ask," Natasha had informed her.

Darcy was mostly quiet but on occasion, she could actually make an observation worth listening to, and she felt really proud about herself. They had proceeded to have lunch at Izzy's where Darcy and Jane tried to coerce information about the S.H.E.L.D. world out of her. Natasha wasn't much for gossip, but she knew what people were doing in their lives after all, and the two Puente Antiguo residents were happy to get at least some news, including Stark's decision to remove the shrapnel in his chest (about time, Jane concluded), Natasha and Cap working together (top secret so no details) and Banner's latest adventures in East Africa (they all agreed that he probably was the most heroic of them all).

Jane had called Dr. Boothby after Natasha left and a couple of days later Darcy found herself picking him up at the nearest airport, which happened to be Santa Fe.

He had been absolutely charming, informal, dressed in jeans and a simple white shirt with a discreet checkered pattern in light blue and beige, and Darcy yet again marvelled at his Cambridge English. The two hour drive back to Puente Antiguo seemed almost too short as Ian, as he had asked her to call him, and Darcy talked about everything from physics to American pop culture.

They liked the same music, and played the same computer games and Darcy was pleased with the opportunity to shine when they talked modern day politics and she could discuss it in an informed way. Poli-Sci, right? By the time Darcy parked the car outside the lab, she was certain she had a new friend in Ian. Natasha's 'but' still ate at her, but she couldn't for the life of her see how there could be any 'but''s concerning Ian.

Erik, who had spent the last three weeks in Sweden, visiting friends and family, had arrived back in New Mexico only the day before, looked up and came over to greet their newest addition to Team Astrophysics as they entered the lab. Jane, who had been sitting by her computer, listening to music as she was working, quickly caught on and almost bounded over to greet him.

The physics nerds were head over heels into explaining what they were working on within two minutes, and Darcy backed away, went over to her work station, and plopped down on her chair, firing up her tower as well. With half her attention on the computer, she directed the other half toward Ian as he and Jane examined some data. Yes, Darcy was certain life would perk up with the arrival of the European scientist.

* * *

Darcy pushed her glasses up her nose with her right hand and looked over at the large van parked inside the building. Jane had decided to keep it despite its less-than-stellar performance with the words 'I built the equipment for that car and I'll be damned if I'm ripping it out just because it would be nice with air conditioning'. Darcy had pointed out that they could get some goons from S.H.I.E.L.D. to do the ripping part, which nearly gave Jane a heart attack. The matter was dropped and everyone was now patiently grinning and bearing it, bringing out the toolbox when needed.

Right now the attractive posterior that was Ian's was visible in plain view as he was half inside the van, doing something with the equipment inside. Darcy usually didn't touch the equipment as such since she wouldn't know what she was doing. Her speciality was to deal with the temperamental van itself, and was often seen with the 5-56 lubricant in hand to deal with contact issues.

Ian however, had the dubious honour of crawling around getting acquainted with the bowels of the vehicle, and it had led him to do what everyone else did, bring out the toolbox. The past four work days, two before the weekend and two days so far this week, he had been everywhere, yanking out panels, cleaning up and going over cables, wires and circuit boards, fixing glitches and testing everything, and by doing so pulling Darcy into the process.

"Drop what you're doing and hook up your laptop. I need you to monitor what's going on," he had told her, an order carefully wrapped in charm and a smile, but it didn't fool Darcy. With a quick look at Jane, who was immersed in drawings of some sort, having a mini-conference with Erik, she did as he asked. She spent the coming days mostly perched on the concrete floor, cursing the wifi while her conversations usually consisted of a 'yes' or a 'no', as she was answering exciting questions like 'do you see anything?'. The positive thing was that she got to see Ian climbing around and sometimes end up in interesting positions.

Occasionally he emerged with a piece of technology in his hand and picked it apart on the large table situated in the centre of the glazed laboratory. Darcy usually was summoned to help loosen screws or put them back in, or to come up with opinions on whether parts needed to be switched to new ones.

"I don't know anything about that!" she had said the first time he had asked her opinion.

He looked up at her and leaned back in his chair and swivelled it so he was facing her. "A little bird told me you can literally rebuild this car's engine. Anyone who can do that can handle circuit boards," he said. "What you don't know, you'll learn."

She dove in and realised she knew more than she had expected. Not in a long time had she felt so smart as in his company, and she almost forgot about Natasha's 'but'. Erik was the one reminding her about it. It didn't matter what they were doing, she had him in the corner of her eye, and she knew he was watching. She tried to push away the irritation she felt, because she knew the reason for his behaviour was that he cared. He had been through a lot and she guessed he didn't want anything like that happening to Jane or her.

Now however, the fun days seemed over because Jane had declared that he would have to manage on his own. She needed her assistant, she claimed, and Darcy was back at the desk, downloading the latest readings. Happy days.

She tore her eyes from the interesting view and leaned forward as ping and a pop-up message declared the download from Jane's equipment was finished. She begun sorting the various files to impose some kind of order in the chaos. She had learned the hard way this had to be done immediately or it very quickly became impossible to find anything without using Windows search.

During her time with Jane she had created her own cataloguing system, which meant she didn't sort things under numbers alone, but also names. It made it easier for her to find what she was looking for further down the line if she needed to jump back in time, but it also meant she would have to rename folders and files at times. It took time, but it was necessary. Time ticked by as she worked. She lost track of what the others were doing and didn't notice the shadow on her desk.

"Darcy?" Ian asked, causing her to jump. He put his hand on her shoulder and she felt his heat bleed through the shirt she was wearing, as she turned her head to look up at him. "I apologise. I did not mean to frighten you," he said with a small smile.

"It's okay. I was just distracted for a bit," Darcy replied smiling back at him. He let go of her shoulder and crouched down next to her.

"What do you say about us having dinner at Isabella's later?" he asked. "I wouldn't mind skipping cooking this evening," he added looking a bit sheepish.

Darcy quickly tried to figure the interpersonal calculus, as in, is this a date proposal? Or is this just because he feels a bit lonely? He lived in a tiny apartment close to the lab and probably didn't see many people other than Darcy, Erik, and Jane. She decided that he probably was feeling a bit lonely, and Darcy was the only one who talked about anything other than astrophysics with him, after all. She smiled. "Sure. I'll just take Erik and Jane home first with the car so I don't have to walk back home," she replied.

"Wonderful," he said and smiled _that_ smile, which always went straight to her knees, making her feel unstable. He stood and walked over to the large table to fiddle with yet another piece he had yanked out of the van.

A few minutes later Jane noisily slid up next to Darcy in her office chair.

"So what was that all about?" Jane whispered, with her back towards Ian, eyeing Darcy sideways.

Darcy threw her a glance. "He asked if we could have dinner at Izzy's today."

"Really?" Was that irritation in Jane's voice? Darcy wasn't sure.

"Yes, really. I'll take you guys home first, don't worry," Darcy replied.

"Is it a date?"

Darcy turned to look at Jane. "I don't know. He didn't specify." She turned back to her computer and continued sorting the files. There was no response from Jane, but she didn't slide away on her office chair either. After a minute Darcy turned back to Jane. "What?" she asked.

Jane had been staring out of the large glass wall behind Darcy, but turned her gaze back to Darcy when spoken to. "Honestly? There's something... I can't put my finger on it." She crossed her arms.

Darcy sighed. "At first I was thinking about what Natasha said, but really, from my perspective he seems pretty normal."

Jane eyed her for a moment and then she shook her head and turned her eyes back at the view outside. "It's like he's psychic or something," she mused.

"Is he a fortune teller?" Darcy smiled.

"Not that kind of psychic. It's like he knows things, but doesn't want to admit he does." Jane threw a glance over her shoulder at Ian before letting her eyes come to rest on Darcy again. "He is correcting my equations. And he's right. He can take one of my equations, rewrite it and keep building on it. Just like that. When I asked him about it he just shrugged and said he got inspired. Inspired? That's some inspiration, I say."

"So what you're saying is that he could be Loki's goon," Darcy said.

Jane looked uneasy. "It could just be that he's a Tony Stark but with astrophysics, but..." Her voice trailed off and she looked back at the glass wall.

"But you're not buying it."

"I don't think he's Loki's goon," Jane whispered.

Darcy noticed a movement in the corner of her eyes and glanced over at Ian. He sat at the table, half-turned towards them, looking straight at Jane. His eyes were completely unreadable, and Darcy discreetly poked at Jane with her hand under the table and gestured at Ian with her eyes. It was a good thing Jane was smart because she immediately caught on.

"We'll talk later when you're back home, okay?" Jane said like they had discussed the cleaning schedule. Darcy nodded and went back to her computer screen while she discreetly watched Ian. Like nothing had happened, he was also back to his work, leaning over the table, like he was completely oblivious. Darcy studied him over the next half-hour as she tried to make sense of his facial expression when he had been looking at Jane. It had just been so blank. Not scary blank, just blank. She decided she was going to poke at him during dinner.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N at the end. They contain spoilers so if you wish to stay spoiler free, skip that part.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Loki opened his eyes but closed them again immediately, trying to make sense of his surroundings. His memory was clouded and he tried to gather the fragmented pieces, putting together what had happened and whether what his eyes saw what was real or not. Unfortunately his mind didn't cooperate and all he could remember were fragments, incoherent shards, like pieces of a broken mirror.

Magic, he remembered. But as he reached out for it, he couldn't command it like he should. It was as if he was moving through syrup. Thor. Brother, he thought, and he remembered his wide smile, boisterous laugh, as well as his care. However, there was also a sense of inferiority attached to the love for his brother. Fragments of a dangerous fight on an ice-cold world surfaced. There had been an important revelation made there, but he couldn't remember about what. Pressing his eyes shut he reached out with his mind, and he almost had the answer in his grip, when someone spoke.

"Loki." His mother. Could it really be her? He felt her hand on him, gently caressing his face. "Loki, my boy." He couldn't resist opening his eyes and was greeted with a familiar smile. In that instant the fragments of his adult self fell away and he was a child again.

"Mother? Have I been ill?" he asked, his voice uncertain and small.

A dark shadow crossed Frigga's face. "We thought we had lost you," she replied.

He must have been very ill, he thought. Why couldn't he remember? "I can't remember," he said out loud and again tried to reach for the shadows he sensed. There was something there, eluding him.

Frigga brushed hair from his forehead. "It will come back to you. Give it time," she replied and smiled at him. "I love you, my son," she whispered and reached out her left hand and gently gripped his hand.

"I love you too, mother," he said and smiled back at her. All was well, he knew that now. If his mother said so, it was true. His eyelids grew heavy.

"Where is Thor?" he asked. A memory appeared in his mind, Thor running as fast as he could, laughing. Loki knew he would overtake his brother, he always would. It was the one thing he was better at than Thor. He smiled at the memory.

"Your brother is on an errand. He will come and see you soon," Frigga said. Loki's mind started to drift towards sleep again.

"I have missed him," Loki said and frowned. "I know I haven't seen him in a while. Why is that? He's always with me," he continued and tried to fight sleep.

"You have been gone a long time. Thor will soon see you again. He has been here while you slept, several times," she replied and caressed his cheek again. "Rest, Loki. You need to heal." Frigga begun singing his favourite song, the one she so often used to sing for him, and he drifted off to sleep.

Frigga stopped singing when Loki slept soundly, heaved a deep sigh and straightened on the stool she was sitting on, letting go of his hand. "My boy," she said sadly.

"He is healing," Odin said and put his hand on her shoulder. "You know why I had to do this to him even if it would have repercussions."

"I know. It will come back to him, in time, both his memories and powers, Eir said so. I just fear we'll lose him again," she said and looked over her shoulder at her husband. He stared at the wall, eyes seemingly far away.

"There are many things that are uncertain, and though I manipulate the very fabric of time, there are always uncertainties. I see many things. Some are worrying me, but I can't meddle with the little things," he replied. Frigga looked down and blinked tears from her eyes. "It may comfort you that Loki is not my main concern at present. Things are stirring, chaos is erupting. But no injury will come to him. Thor will come out of it unscathed. His life's thread is strong and has not been shortened."

"What about Loki's future?" she asked.

Odin was silent for a few moments. "His future has always been fickle and of late it's even more so than before. I cannot say what his future is for certain, but there are some things that I see more clearly than others. Loki's emotions run deep, all of them. He must learn to master them or he will go under and drag us all down with him. Despite this I see hope. He will not be alone. Old and new friends will reach out to him." He looked down at his wife. "There is hope," he repeated.

Frigga nodded. As things stood, she was content as long as neither of her sons died. It had broken her heart when Odin had brought her the terrible news, that Loki was lost to them. Though she had disagreed with her husband on Loki's imprisonment, just as she had disagreed with his decision to banish Thor, this time, though it grieved her to see Loki in the state he had been in, she had accepted her husband's decision. There was much at stake and Odin did what he could, for all of them, unpleasant as it sometimes was.

Her curiosity was piqued by his words though. "What is it you see?" she asked.

Odin's eyes turned unseeing again. "I see influence from Midgard. The mortals will do what we cannot, if anything can be done when we arrive at that point in time. They have an uncanny tendency to reach out and befriend those who are lost and outcast." His face turned sourly. "I see a ghost return from the past, one we should have listened to, but didn't."

"A ghost?" Frigga couldn't help being alarmed.

Odin smiled slightly. "Do not be alarmed. There is nothing sinister at work. For our sons it will even be beneficial."

Frigga smiled bleakly and turned her eyes back at Loki. She was happy to hear he would have friends, even in the future. He had always been in the background, even among those he called friends. In truth, the Warriors Three and Lady Sif had been Thor's friends specifically. But she was used to thinking of them all as friends, Loki's as much as Thor's, though Loki always had been pulled along by Thor, always at his heels. When she scrutinized her memories she had to admit that Loki's only real long-time friend in this world had been Thor. It grieved her to think about it today. Loki could certainly use a friend or two of his own, she thought.

Where the mortals fit in to this she did not know and she knew better than to ask her husband for clarification. A suspicion grew in her mind that this ghost, which her husband could see in the future, was linked to Midgard. She did not like to think in terms of threats and trouble, but Midgard had always been about change, often for the sake of change. Some she could agree with, others not. Chaos, she thought. It would fit Loki well. She quelled a sigh.

It would be difficult for Loki to find new friends in Asgard, partly because of what he had done, but mostly because of who he was. But it didn't make sense in her mind for the Midgardians to be so forgiving towards him either, having been through a similar trauma as Jotunheim had, all because of her adopted son. How was it possible?

In Asgard it was their own family that had suffered, not the subjects of Asgard, and yet, her husband's words would indicate at least some would be more inclined to forgive Loki in Midgard, than she knew her own people to be. They had all seen Midgard as under their protection, their creation to care for, but still a race that was weak and squabbling. And now they possibly were to save them all. What a strange thought.

She frowned a bit when she remembered the mortal girl Thor had formed an attachment to. Despite her curiosity Frigga had not been prying, and she had tried to not form any opinion of her. Odin disapproved, and it was entirely possible that this was an infatuation which would falter eventually. Thor had made attachments before with mortals, and they had turned out to be short lived in more ways than the simple fact that mortals lives were so short, which made it presumptuous to expect much.

Odin let go of her shoulder and she rose to bid him goodbye. Uncharacteristically he opened his arms to embrace her, and she let her arms find their way around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Remember that whatever happens, I love you," he said calmly.

Frigga raised her head and looked at him. "And I you," she said softly. There was a foreboding in his words, she felt it.

"Are you staying here?" he asked.

"I am."

He kissed her and let her go, and she released him as well, and without another word he left. Whatever happens, he had said. She feared that while she would keep her sons, she would lose him. At that thought a dull ache welled up inside, but she pushed it aside. Until it actually happened, she would not grieve. She turned back to her son's bedside to watch over him.

* * *

As the All-Father walked through the halls he pondered the things he had sensed of the future. He couldn't suppress his discomfort. For all their weaknesses, the Midgardians had a tendency to become involved in the important events in time, and this once he would have to accept that, it seemed. Physically weak they may be, but their minds were not.

For all intents and purposes it had all gone horribly wrong after the coronation, and as Loki let go and fell, Odin knew he fell to his death. But he also knew Loki would come back. It had been obscured how that would happen, and he felt the presence of an unknown entity, an entity he knew could tear their world apart. For some time it had weighed heavily on his mind, that his son had fallen in to such hands, and changing the outcome of what was happening seemed harder than before.

The All-Farther knew better than to give in to despair, and now it seemed like there was hope. It could come at a terrible price, a personal price, to all of them. He was tempted to intervene, because the thought of this cost, this very personal cost, was almost unbearable. When he lost Loki he knew there was still hope, but every time he turned his eye to search the future for this, he was unable to see through the vapours. It was like someone was interfering with his sight. He pushed the gloomy thoughts away from him and turned his musings to the man he called his son, who now slept under his wife's watchful eye.

That boy was the hardest nut to crack, he mused. It was clear very early on that Loki had an affinity for magic, great magic even, but with time, as the gap between Loki's personality and gifts and the Æsir standard seemed to grow, a dark streak coloured his actions, one that grew stronger with every slight and every barb. He had never been quite like the rest of the family and the other Æsir children, eventually friends of Thor.

It had been a difficult decision to not tell Loki who he really was, and sometimes Frigga tried to convince him it would be better if he knew, but he couldn't let his adoptive son feel even more different than he already was. Loki would have to be a part of Asgard if there would ever be any chance for his plans. In hindsight, the revelation had come much too late, he knew that. But he could not undo the past, so he looked forward instead.

Sometimes when he looked at his son, he couldn't help wondering who his mother had been. His dark hair, pale countenance and lithe build raised suspicion, as well as the kind of magic he wielded. Naturally he had noticed that Loki never looked like a full Frost Giant, and even as a baby there had been a few things which had been odd about him; his size, some physical features he had and some which he lacked.

The whole matter reeked. That Loki was Laufey's son was clear, but his mother...

"Why can't you all stay in the past as you are supposed to?" he groused and shut his eyes. Mortal's or Æsir, it didn't matter; they all caused problems. Events and people thought to be long gone seemed to come back to haunt them all. If he was right, Loki's mother was very much alive. He opened his eyes and continued on. Maybe he should send his ravens to investigate. Yes, it was time to gain clarity in this.

* * *

The five Æsir were in their usual chamber, where they had spent so many hours in each other's company. This, however, was not one of those happy times gone by. Events had pulled them apart and even Lady Sif felt the absence of one that used to be a comrade-in-arms. Thor stood on one side of the large fire while Lady Sif, Fandral, and Hogun stood loosely grouped on the other. Volstagg was sitting down, as if frozen in time, staring at Thor.

Lady Sif was the first one to open her mouth and speak. "You did what? You brought him out of his prison?" she asked, unable to keep anger from seeping into her voice.

"Yes, I did. I could no longer be a silent onlooker to this charade," Thor replied defensively, pulling himself up, being every inch the regal prince that he was.

Sif continued to stare at him and in the corner of her eye she noticed Fandral's eyes darting between them, preparing to intervene if necessary. She ignored him. Not in her wildest imagination had she thought it possible that Thor would defy the All-Farther in this way. Would he ever learn not to act rashly? She was beginning to doubt it was possible.

"It was no charade! Loki tried to destroy Jotunheim, and though I don't have much love for them, I can't fathom how he could ever think it would be the right thing to do!" she said hotly.

Hogun turned his gaze from Thor to her and stared at her, his face unreadable.

Thor smiled sadly. "Lady Sif, we all grew up with the Frost Giants as our most hated enemy. They were evil, we were taught. What if you were told one day you were such a monster?" he asked.

Sif looked away. Part of her wanted to retort that Loki had been the monster among them, that the revelation explained so much, but she too had trusted Loki once, and knew him to harbour very strong emotions. He was gifted in keeping an even façade, but it had cracked at times, especially when Thor had been in danger or injured. Loki had loved Thor. She knew it. Loki had believed he was Thor's brother, and now? Despite herself she could imagine how Loki had taken the news, that he wasn't, that he wasn't even one of them.

"My heart is bleeding for Loki, because he is still my brother. His origin does not change this. We grew up together and shared a life here. My father took him on as his own and this life, this world, is all he ever knew." Thor sighed. "I would give almost anything to have him back at my side, as my true brother, again."

Sif balked at this. "Thor, you can't live in the past. Loki has done many things that people will find difficult to forgive."

"That _you_ find difficult to forgive, you mean," Thor said, with a steel edge in his voice.

"Lady Sif is not the only one wary of him. Though I know him as a man you want at your back, he betrayed Asgard, lied and put our world at danger," Hogun interjected.

Volstagg rose to his feet, slowly joining the loosely formed group.

Fandral took a step towards Thor. "I have pity for Loki, but you shouldn't have freed him. Two realms he has threatened by his actions, and the damage he has caused is enormous. There is a reason why he was put in chains, Thor. It was not for you to decide to release him. Only the Norns know what his plans are now, but I can assure you that he won't go back to being your obedient little brother."

Thor sighed deeply. "My friends, don't take me for an idiot. I know Loki can never go back to what was. There has to be a way forward though, and I'm not giving up on him." He paused and let his eyes wander from face to face.

"I thought I was going to meet opposition when I brought him out. There was none. I must assume it was because it was time. I do not pretend to understand my father's reasoning here, but had I been wrong, you all know I could not have freed him." He raked his fingers through his hair and looked away. His eyes found the sky outside.

Fandral took another step at him, hesitating for a moment. "How is he?" he asked.

Thor tore his eyes away from the sky outside. "Physically he'll recover as he always has, quicker than most," he said quietly.

Sif resolutely walked over to him and tried to catch his eyes. "What is the matter?" she asked. She had heard that he had lost his powers somehow, and that would be a blow to anyone, but it now occurred to her that it could have changed Loki in ways she hadn't considered before.

"He has no memories beyond his childhood at this point and his magic is the level of what it was when he was quite young, but otherwise he's restored," Thor replied and paused.

Sif reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said as her mind tried to take in that the Loki they all knew no longer existed. With Loki broken in such a way it was no wonder the All-Farther had made no objection to Thor releasing him.

Thor looked at her and smiled that sad smile again. "Don't be. You had no hand in this."

Fandral came to life and strode over to Thor and Sif. "Whatever do you mean? Will he never regain his memories?" he asked, concerned.

Thor shook his head and his smile grew wider and he lost his sadness. "My friends, it's not a permanent loss. He will make a full recovery, and both Eir and father have said we should not worry." Sif let her hand drop to her side as she and Fandral glanced at each other, and behind them they could hear Hogun sigh.

"It is odd though, hearing him speak. He told mother he was going to get well soon so he could outrun me again." Old memories seemed to march through Thor's mind, and he chuckled quietly.

Involuntary Fandral grinned. "He was always the faster one."

"Yes. I tried so hard to beat him, but it was impossible. Sometimes I was certain he was using his magic, but to beat me at running, he didn't need to use magic. He was fast as the wind. That was always him." Thor looked out at the sky again.

"It's tempting to intervene and bury his memories. It can be done" He sighed. "I know it's wrong, but I fear what will happen when he regains them. His mind is broken in more ways than this, and the risk is great that he will reject this life once he is fully healed again."

"Can't Eir heal all that is broken?" Sif asked.

Thor dropped his gaze to his feet. "She will not. 'I can heal sickness and injury, but not a mind in chaos' she said. I must continue to reach out to him until he either accepts my care and we can start to rebuild what was lost, or he goes under. And if he does, we will all follow him."

The air seemed to chill around them. "Do you think it's time?" Volstagg asked.

"It is not me who thinks it's time, but rather my father," Thor replied solemnly.

Silence lowered itself over them like a thick blanket. They had all known about the saga, about the end which was the beginning, Ragnarök. They all lulled themselves into the false idea that they were all truly immortal, but the truth was, they were not. Idun's apples gave them unnatural long life, and they were strong and healed fast, but only the All-Farther could be said to be truly immortal. For the rest of them there was an end. None of them had known who would lead them into this, only that it would happen, and it shocked them to learn who he was.

Hogun was the first to speak. "We must do what we can."

The others moved awkwardly, looking everywhere but at Hogun and Thor.

"I must count on my friends' help if this is to succeed," Thor said. "Will I have it? No matter what happens?" he asked.

Fandral looked up, and so did Voldstagg. "You can always count on me," Fandral said.

Volstagg nodded in agreement. "And me. I have followed you into stupidity many times before. Why stop now?" he grinned.

Thor turned to Sif. "I know your thoughts on Loki. You have never seen eye-to-eye with my brother, but I need your help, Lady Sif. Are you willing to put your feelings for Loki aside?" he asked and reached his hand out towards her.

Sif looked at him with a heavy heart. She reached out and gripped his hand. "You know I will be there. I always will, as long as I can draw a breath," she replied with a strong and steady voice as she quelled the uneasiness inside.

Thor smiled at her, pressed her hand once and then released his grip and looked at the others. "My friends, we have a lot to do."

* * *

A/N: For those of you who are into myth and spoilers you'll know that Frigga is the one who is a seer, even in MCU it seems. What they were going to do about that was not known when I started writing this is late March so I made the decision to break with myth (though the prelude comics is clear on the subject we still don't know if this will be canon in the film so it's actually not canon yet). I have already flagged this as being different in some aspects than both myth and MCU, but I figured I should say something about it anyway.

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Darcy and Ian walked over to the diner once they had locked up the lab. It was half full and most of the customers knew Darcy at least by her looks. She smiled, nodded and said 'hi' on her way to a table in the corner where she eased herself down on one of the red chairs. Ian slid in to the chair on the other side of the table and glanced briefly over at the counter, before picking up the menu. Darcy didn't bother doing the same, since she was going to indulge in her favourite meal anyway.

"You should have seen Thor when we took him here," she said, with a tinge of nostalgia in her voice. "I swear, I have never in my life seen a guy eat like him."

Ian looked up from the menu and put it down. "He made quite an impression during his stay," he remarked and tilted his head as he met her eyes. Darcy grinned.

"Mostly on Jane, I think. But yeah, he was out of the ordinary, but still a nice guy." Her smile faltered. "His brother on the other hand, now there's an unpleasant dude."

Ian smiled knowingly. "I guess people didn't call him the God of Mischief for nothing back in the day," he pointed out.

"Yeah well, it's more God of Mayhem, Death and Chaos if you ask me. I never actually met him you know? I met his metal monster, and that tin can was really scary. We thought he had killed Thor for a moment there. And from what I heard about what happened when he decided to conquer Earth, he tried to kill Thor then as well." She shuddered. "I really don't know what his problem is." Ian looked thoughtfully back at her.

"I think I have a clue," he said, with a far away voice.

"Really? Care to tell me about it?" she asked and perked up.

He shook his head. "Maybe later. It would spoil the meal talking too much about him," he said and shifted his gaze to look at something behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw his reason for not going into a lengthy explanation.

Izzy came trotting over to them with a wide smile on her lips. "Hello dear," she said to Darcy as she arrived at the table.

"Hi Izzy," Darcy smiled back and turned back to Ian. "Have you been here before?" she asked. He shook his head. "Well then. This is Ian" she explained and turned to look at Izzy, "and this is Izzy. Ian is our latest recruit and he's super smart and talks like one of those dudes on the BBC."

"Welcome to our little town! I hope you'll enjoy your stay," Izzy said to Ian with a friendly smile.

"Thank you. I'm certain I will," he replied and returned the smile.

"See what I mean?" Darcy said conspiratorially to Izzy, who chuckled in response.

They ordered food and talked for a while about American diner culture and British pub culture, until their meals arrived. They started eating in silence until Ian let his hands drop to the table, looking at Darcy.

"I must admit, though I didn't quite know what Dr. Foster was doing out here, I was fairly certain it was linked to what happened in New York in some respect, when I learned S.H.I.E.L.D. are your funders," he said, leaning slightly forward, lowering his voice making it look like they either were gossiping or having a heart to heart.

"Well, you were not wrong," Darcy replied, glancing around to check if anyone seemed to be listening. No one seemed to pay any attention to them. "Did you know about Thor, Loki and Norse mythology, before New York happened?" She continued to eat.

Ian grinned. "My mother is Norwegian. Of course I knew about the mythology. I didn't expect it to be true though." His face went serious again.

Darcy nodded and swallowed. "You should have seen Erik. It took him a while to accept it but once Thor had suited up and was swinging that hammer, there was no doubt about who he was."

"The theory Dr. Foster is working on is riveting, to say the least, but I sometimes wonder if she is a bit blinded." He looked down at his meal and stabbed at the food.

"Oh?" Darcy replied and put on her most innocent face. This could be interesting, she decided.

"She is, without a doubt, on her way to a major breakthrough. I can see it." He shrugged. "I'm good at maths," he said as if it would explain anything to Darcy. She decided to play along. She sort of understood what he was trying to tell her.

"Problem is, I don't think she has considered what will happen when she succeeds. S.H.I.E.L.D. is what such an organisation usually is, fairly short sighted, focusing on results and what they can use this knowledge for. Dr. Foster has a personal reason why she's so dedicated, and I worry that it is blinding her slightly. I wish to bring it up, but I can tell she is sensitive about it." He looked down at his place and pushed his fork around in the salad.

Darcy laughed. "Sensitive? Dude, that's putting it mildly!" Relief swept through her. A bad guy wouldn't raise such concerns, would he?

Ian looked up and smiled back at her. "I don't wish to seem arrogant. She has worked on this for a long time and I understand her feelings about her work. I simply wish to bring it up, to discuss this thoroughly before we let loose something we can't control." He lifted the fork to his mouth.

"That does sound like the typical science mistake, doesn't it?" Darcy asked. He nodded in reply and she sighed. "Okay, I'm no physicist, so I don't know the details or anything, but yeah, we worry about this. Jane can be very pushy when it's about her work, but she knows. We saw what happened here, when Loki used Bifrost to send that giant tin man, and New York . . . That was horrible."

Absent-mindedly she pushed up her glasses further up on her nose.

"When I saw that I was sure S.H.E.L.D. was going to shut us down ASAP. Okay, so we knew there were other worlds out there, I mean, the mythology talks about it, but the Chitauri? And Loki leading them? No, we couldn't imagine that." She put another forkful of her dinner in her mouth, chewed and swallowed.

"Since the Bifrost was destroyed we've lost contact with Asgard basically, so we really don't know what's going on. At all. Loki was supposed to face some sort of justice, but we really have no way of knowing. I think Jane and Fury are after the same thing here, establish contact with Asgard and bring back Thor. Fury wants his Norse god," Darcy dropped her utensils and made quotation marks in the air with her fingers, "back so he has a full team to throw at whatever threat that pops up, and Jane, because she is . . . well, perhaps not in love, but . . . Thor's so much what those department guys aren't. She's had a tough time and Thor was _nice _to her." She flashed a quick grin. "And he's an alien."

"She doesn't strike me as a woman who is easily swept off her feet. Other than by her work," Ian observed drily, put down his fork and lifted the glass with ice tea he had ordered along with the food.

"No, it had to be a _god_. Well, no we don't think he's a god. But he _is_ a freaky superpower alien." Darcy snickered. "I've never seen a guy like that, but it's not about the muscle mass for Jane, I think. No matter how pretty someone is, they'd not stand a chance unless they had a brain. Has she told you how she got where she is now?" Darcy shoved more food in her mouth as Ian shook his head.

"They spent a night on that roof," Darcy pointed over at the laboratory building across the street, "because Erik was really drunk and slept in Jane's caravan."

"Erik? Drunk?" He looked at her with disbelief written all over his face.

"Yeah, he had been drinking with Thor. Thor can take more alcohol than Erik, a lot more actually, and they were apparently doing some serious beer heaving that night. Anyway, Jane told me they started talking about her research and he told her she was right. And he went on to explain some basic stuff. You know, Yggdrasil, Bifrost, that magic and science are one and the same. It wasn't like this huge revelation, more what's out there and that she was on her way to understanding it all."

Ian chewed and swallowed. "That explains a lot. Faith is a lot more important than most think, in my opinion. I was wondering how come she was so absolutely certain it was possible, but now it's quite clear. It's like finding the answer to a complicated equation. You still need to do the work, but you know what the result should be."

"I guess so," Darcy replied. "I'd just like to point out that my knowledge of astrophysics would fit on the head of a pin with plenty of room left over for dancing angels." She made a face and glanced down at her plate.

"No, it's not that bad. I have seen you work. You understand a lot more than you think," he replied with emphasis, doing that leaning forward thing again, gazing intently at her as she raised her eyes.

Darcy blushed. "It's really nice of you to say that, but I don't feel particularly gifted."

He smiled. "You need to work on that self-confidence, darling," he said.

Pain flittered across her features at the thought of her own insecurities, as she was trying to ignore the fact that he just called her darling. _Darling_? Whoever calls their colleague darling out of the blue? She suspected that what had started out as a dinner with a new and slightly lonely colleague had turned in to a more date-like dinner.

"I'm trying. Not always that easy when surrounded by super brainy people. It's not a whole lot better when Natasha and Stark show up. In that crowd I really feel like I'm the dumb kid who is supposed to make the smart people feel even more smart."

Ian reached out and carefully took her hand in his. "You are not that kid, Darcy. I mean it," he said and looked intently at her. She stared at him, her mouth gone dry. "I find it absolutely heartbreaking that you see yourself like that. You are intelligent and beautiful. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise."

He smiled softly at her and gave her hand a gentle caress. That touchy feely thing he was doing really was getting to her. This was the most blatant thing he had done so far, but he always seemed to put his hands on her. Her belly suddenly burned with a familiar fire which immediately rushed south. She managed to press down the insta-lust and smiled widely. "Did anyone tell you that you've got a great smile by the way?" she countered, though her voice was pitched a bit too high to sound completely natural.

"You just did," he replied with a mischievous spark in his eyes.

Mortified Darcy felt the all too familiar heat warming her cheeks, and in defiance of her silly reactions she lifted her chin. "Yes I did. And I mean it," she said.

He laughed hearty. "I really like you Darcy. You're absolutely charming," he said, leaned forward as he lifted her hands and kissed her knuckles.

It was a good thing she was sitting down, she decided, and closed her mouth to stop it from gaping ajar like a door someone forgot to close. "You really know how to charm a girl, don't you?" she asked a bit too breathlessly.

"I'm no flirt, if that's what you're wondering," he said, immediately looking serious as released his grip on her hand.

"Oh. Um. Sorry, I didn't mean to-" she started saying.

"I didn't think you were. I just thought it was a good opportunity to clear that up," he said cutting her off with a smile.

Dammit! Stop smiling like that at me, Darcy thought. He's smart, charming and he likes me. _He_ likes _me_. And he's telling me he isn't a flirt. The realisation dawned on her and she smiled back. Life had definitely taken a turn for the better, she decided.

Dinner over, Ian gallantly offered her his elbow, which she took, and they slowly walked to her car, which she had parked outside the lab as usual. It was a clear night and the stars twinkled reassuringly when Darcy looked up at the sky. From a distance she heard a 'rawk-rawk' and when she looked around she spotted the silhouettes of two crows or ravens – she couldn't say which – perched on the edge of the lab roof. She shifted her eyes towards the night sky again.

"I wonder what will happen when we do open that portal," she said, her eyes still on the night sky. When he didn't reply, she turned to look at him. He stared straight ahead and looked like he was miles away in his mind. "Are you worried?" she asked.

He pulled himself out of his reverie and looked at her. "I would be a fool to not worry," he replied, and smiled as if he wanted to soften his words.

As they approached the car she fished the car keys from her pocket and unlocked the car door and turned towards him.

"I really enjoyed myself. Good food and good company. Doesn't happen that often out here, and I don't mean that Jane and Erik are boring, just that I enjoy spending time with you," she said, hoping she didn't sound too stupid.

He stepped closer, lifted his hands and took her glasses from her face. Darcy's breath caught in her throat as put his fingers under her chin and lifted it slightly. "I had the best company I could think of," he said with a slight smile and leaned down and kissed her. Darcy froze for a couple of moments until she suddenly came to life and decided to kiss back. Her hands went up to his face and she ran her fingers through his hair and let them come to a rest around the back of his neck. He broke the kiss after what felt like half an eternity and pushed a few strands of her hair waving in the wind over her cheek, behind her ear. Darcy let her hands drop to her sides.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said softly, handed her the glasses he had removed and stepped back.

Darcy smiled back at him. "Looking forward to it," she said and opened the car door and got inside, fumbling a bit with the glasses as she put them back on. Not for the first time she wished she could get herself together and order lenses. Sometimes it was just more practical to not wear glasses. As she started the car he waved at her and turned to walk home. She waved back and drove on to the road that would take her back to her own home.

* * *

When Darcy stepped through the door Jane looked up from the heap of papers and what looked like a large technical drawing in front of her. "Hey," she smiled. It was a guarded smile, but still a smile.

Darcy hung the keys on the hook by the door and proceeded to pull her shoes off, with a sigh of relief. She picked up her bag and walked over to the table where she dropped it on the floor. She went over to the kitchen, picked a glass out of the cabinet and turned on the faucet. She waited for a while until she decided the water was cold enough, and then filled the glass and returned to the table, sitting down on a chair opposite Jane. Jane watched her as she had a sip of the water.

"So was it a date?" Jane asked nonchalantly as she was making noises with her papers.

Darcy put down the glass and studied the water. "I think it was," she replied. "Dinner with colleagues usually doesn't involve kissing, right?" she asked.

Jane snorted. "No. Not the kind I've ever been to."

"I thought so," Darcy replied with a grin.

Jane raised her eyebrows. "And?" she asked.

Darcy giggled. "My god Jane! He's . . . he's just so damn charming, and a bit old-fashioned, but not in bad way, but you know... _nice_, and he doesn't talk down to me. He's just . . . charming." Jane nodded, looking a bit absent. "What? I know you think he's weird, but I really don't see why everyone is so sure he'll turn out to be a demon or anything. And he brought up stuff bad guys wouldn't."

"I'm not," said Jane. "And as I said earlier, I don't think he's Loki's goon." She sighed and raked her fingers through her brown hair. "I can't shake that feeling of being watched, that we need to be careful. I feel paranoid right now, and maybe I need to snap out of it, but then again . . ." She looked up at Darcy. "Loki?"

Sighing she continued, "Thor didn't explain much about the other worlds out there, but it's clear not all the worlds are like Asgard. Ever since that portal opened in New York, I have been thinking about the possibility that we might have visitors we don't know about. The Æsir have been walking the face of the Earth for millennia, and if we're to believe the mythology, we've had other visitors too. Of the more unfriendly kind. Just because Bifrost is broken it doesn't mean others can't drop by, as Loki showed us. The Chitauri obviously could, through the Tesseract, and if I succeed with this project," she looked down at the papers in front of her, motioning at them with her hand, "we'll have our own Earth Bifrost, enabling us to go anywhere in the universe. It's just that I don't think we're that unique. No one ever is. There must be others who can travel like that."

A cold shiver ran through Darcy. "But you said it yourself, that you don't think Ian is Loki's goon, and wouldn't visitors, you know, stand out? I mean, this isn't some bad science fiction where the aliens dress up like us," she said.

"I don't know. It's just that I have a feeling that Loki isn't the only one who can morph and change. And besides, traitors aren't unheard of. He could be like us, just . . . promised something in exchange for a service." Jane snorted.

"God, it does sound like bad science fiction, doesn't it? But I'll tell you what rubs me the wrong way, sort of anyway. At the beginning it was just because Natasha obviously didn't like him, but now . . . I feel like he's waiting for me solve this. From time to time he throws something at me, a piece of an equation or a thought. It seems random, but it's like for every piece of the puzzle I put together, he gives me one which fits with my piece." Jane waved in the air. "Don't tell me he blames it on having a knack for 'the poetry of a formulae'. I know he has, but it's not _that_."

"But what if it is? What if him building on your calculations is just that, the logical next step?" Darcy asked.

"It _is_ the logical next step. I know it when I see it, and I would have arrived at the conclusion sooner or later too. It's just that he seems to pick them out of an imaginary magician's hat, the second I have a breakthrough, like he didn't have think, because he already knows." Jane looked down at her papers.

"Problem is, it's not blatant enough. I could be dead wrong. It worries me though that he's singling you out."

"With all due respect, it's not like there's a range to choose from," Darcy pointed out.

Jane looked up. "Darcy, don't belittle yourself. I have watched him and it's clear he finds your company worth having. And he checks out your butt." A lopsided smile spread over her face.

"He does?" Darcy tried to not feel flattered about that.

"Yup." Jane's smile faltered. "I just wish I knew why he's here. The real truth."

Darcy lifted her glass and gulped down half of its contents. Jane obviously didn't take into account the fact that Darcy could be a blackmailing object. Darcy sighed inwardly. She wasn't born a devil's advocate and she sure wasn't going to start being one now. She definitely didn't want to think in such terms after this evening.

"It could be because he's a brilliant half-Norwegian who wants to work on creating a wormhole so we can travel the stars," she said and put down the glass on the table.

Jane nodded. "Yes," she simply replied. Leaning forward she put her elbows on the table and pressed the heels of her hands at her eyes and sighed. "Me two years ago would have told me this is ridiculous."

"Then you hadn't met Thor and seen Loki's army rip New York apart," Darcy reminded her softly.

"I know," Jane said and let her hands drop to the table, slumping slightly as she looked over at Darcy, looking bleary eyed. "I just have this dreadful feeling that something big is about to happen, and that I will be the one who is going to open that Pandora's Box."

Darcy sighed and gulped down the rest of the water. "Even if it is, it's not like S.H.I.E.L.D. will put this project on ice if you refuse to continue on account of it being too dangerous. If you're stay as boss you're at least in some control over this."

"It shouldn't be the reason to stay. Remember that that's what people told themselves as they carried out horrible orders throughout history. The scientists creating the atom bomb had the same idea, and look what happened." Jane let her head drop to the table with an audible clonk. "My head feels like it's about to explode."

Darcy leaned over and caressed Jane's cheek. "Not everything rests on your shoulders, Jane. I think you need to sleep," she said kindly.

Jane sat up listlessly. "Yeah. I think I should." She smiled weakly at Darcy and heaved herself on to her feet. "Night," she said and wandered off to the bathroom.

Darcy sat for a long while staring unseeingly at the kitchen cabinets. Couldn't life be simple, just this once?

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The butterfly slowly moved its wings as it was taking what the flower was offering, when a slight glow rimmed its contours and a new pattern and bright colours replaced the more dull browns and black it had sported when it landed. Disturbed, it took off and nervously climbed and dove around the flowers, until it landed again.

Loki sighed and looked down at his hands. It had slowly been coming back to him, not only memories but his powers too. In a way he regretted having his memories back, because there was no denying that many were unpleasant. He looked at them in a different way than before he came back to Asgard, but it didn't do much for the pain that filled his heart, nor the anger that rose within.

With the memories the nightmares had returned, another reason to not rejoice. For now he was safe here in Asgard, but the Titan was watching, waiting, patiently, and soon Asgard would no longer be a safe haven. It would only be a matter of time, until things would change even here. He couldn't sit around waiting for the end.

He turned his eyes back to the flowers. Currently he was alone, something he finally had asked for this day. The cloying emotions he was surrounded with from his mother and Thor made him feel worse about the situation, and after curbing the instinct to lash out in anger one too many times he had demanded solitude, at least for an hour.

Their wish for things to continue much in the same way was repulsive. That past was gone, which was just as well. They would never understand that the revelation of the secret kept for so long, was just the last thing, tipping the scales. It hadn't helped him with his self-hatred to find out he really was a monster, but he had a lot of spent up anger to let loose and in the wake of the revelation he had let all of that lose.

He had been a monster the whole time, he had just not known it, and that explained so much. The magic, the fact that he just couldn't see eye-to-eye with the society in which he lived. And he destroyed everything he cared about. He just couldn't help it.

Every time he looked in the mirror he was reminded of the lies and how he didn't belong. His features were deceptively Asgardian but as soon as the memories started trickling back into his consciousness, he had let his Jötunn form return, staring back at him in the glass.

The depth of his despair couldn't be explained to the people around him, and in his frustration he had lashed out, breaking the mirror. Thor had come running, always worrying over him, stopping at the entrance to the room, staring at him while Loki had stared back, knowing he was still in his Jötunn form.

When he tried to shift back he realised he had exhausted his energy for the time being. He looked down at his powerless hands, his shoulders slumping in frustration. To his credit, Thor didn't immediately start blabbering about how this didn't matter, but simply walked over to him and put his hand on Loki's shoulder, giving it a short squeeze.

"Come. Walk with me," he had said. When Loki had raised his voice in protest Thor had cut him off. "For far too long have we made demons out of those who are not Æsir. It needs to change."

"Thor, I doubt I could be considered a good example of," he hesitated and looked away, "my race."

"You are my brother," Thor had simply said, as if that would serve as an explanation.

Loki had sighed. "I'm not your brother."

Thor sighed too and put both his hands on Loki's shoulders. "I will always look upon you as my brother, nothing will ever change this." His voice was laced with tiredness and determination. "Had our views been different, had we been taught things differently, none of this would have happened, and they need to change. Walk with me as my brother."

In Loki's mind his anger fought with the glimmer of hope, that he could belong, and then he bowed his head. No, it could never be.

Thor pulled Loki in to an embrace, which Loki resisted.

"No. Things are not what they were," Loki snapped.

"I know they are not. I don't wish them to be. There has to be a way forward," Thor answered calmly, not letting go of Loki with his hands.

Inside, Loki hissed at this. The emotions he so desperately called sentiments pulled at him, but he couldn't give in to them. Not now, not ever. He could not risk opening himself to more pain.

"I have no wish to be displayed like a grotesque animal, Thor," he said coldly and pulled back, retreating behind his emotional armour, looking everywhere but at Thor.

"My intention would never be to ridicule or hurt you! I wish the world out there to see that there is a possibility for change and acceptance for everything and everyone," Thor said, still persisting,, like he could break through the emotional barrier erected by Loki with physical force.

"Do you ever stop and think about what your actions could lead to? You might think showing yourself with me, looking-," he paused and looked away, "looking like this, would change things." Loki looked back at the blond man.

"Prejudice runs deeper than that and as I said, I can hardly be seen as a suitable specimen to expose to the masses, if tearing down old beliefs is your goal. If they didn't know before what I have done, they surely will after such a spectacle. I have no doubt several of the guests we have here in Asgard, who are aware of events before my departure and on Midgard, would not hesitate to spread what only is the truth. Is it not so, _brother_?"

"Why assume friends of Asgard would wish to spread gossip and slander? Regardless, I will not have you locked up out of sight," Thor replied. Under his calm surface he was beginning to fume.

Loki barked a short laugh. "I have no intention of letting that happen again."

"Then come with me. I must begin somewhere and I would hardly be credible in my efforts for change if I didn't stand by your side. Yes, you made mistakes-"

"Those were _not_ mistakes! I was doing what needed to be done! The war that you had started had to be stopped! As for Midgard, you call it revenge, but over-simplifies my actions. I had a bargain to fulfil, as well as a future to carve out. I have died once. My aim is to not do it again."

Thor's face fell. "But you. . . we thought you dead, that's true, but when we found you on Midgard. . ."

"I fell to my death when you destroyed the Bifrost. I died, Thor. I wandered the endless cold valleys of Hel with no hope, but I was allowed to strike a bargain. Life in return for a service. I agreed, of course." He drew himself up and summoned all he had left of his self-possession.

"My plan was simple. Keep the bargain to the letter, but once fulfilled I was going to shape my own destiny, and the destiny of Midgard, and survive." He sighed and looked at Thor.

"That door is now closed, thanks to you. When I failed my fate was sealed." Which was stretching it, but he needed to seem more doomed than he was. Oh, the allies he had made were probably furious, but the Titan was not completely unreasonable. It wouldn't be easy to be let back in, but he had an idea now how to achieve that.

Thor gazed at Loki, processing what he had been told. He opened his mouth, closed it and looked away. "The nightmares?" he asked.

"They are my constant reminder of the danger lurking, and that I may pay a heavy price for my failure." This was very true.

Thor looked aghast. "I have suspected that trouble had sought you out," he begun to say but paused. "How can this threat be staved off?"

"I don't know yet." Not true, but he wasn't going to tell Thor of all people of his plans. He pulled himself lose and walked over to a chair and sat down, feeling drained and worn. He glanced down at his hands and grimaced at the sight of his blue skin.

Thor followed him with his eyes. "All the more reason to not hide here in your chambers." He walked over to Loki and hunched down next to the chair. "Whatever comes, we will fight it together." His determination and loyalty was so strong it hit Loki like a wave and he glanced at Thor and winced.

"Leave me, Thor. I've exhausted myself with this," he raised his right hand, glaring at it.

Thor's chin dropped to his chest, clearly quelling a sigh and his own disappointment. He couldn't master even the pretence of impassiveness, he never could. Loki wanted to scream at him to stop expecting things he would never be able to deliver. He was Loki, master of magic and chaos without much hope or future.

Loki was done with the ways of the Æsir, but Thor wouldn't accept this. He kept asking for Loki to redeem himself, the same way he had. Many a time Loki wanted to tell Thor that he had always tried to do everything the Æsir way and he had always failed in the end, because he wasn't like them. His last attempt, conquering Midgard as if he were Æsir, had ended with him in chains, and with a price on his head. He was done with the ways of the Æsir and with ideas about honour.

Loki tore his eyes from Thor and gazed out at the garden outside, clenching his jaw, determined not to say another word, lest he should lose his patience and lash out.

Thor stood. "I will see you later, brother," he said and left. Loki winced as he listened to the heavy footfalls fading, knowing Thor would honour his promise. His brother always did.

Thor did not give up on his mission, to change Asgard, and though he wasn't king, he often acted like one. With a certain measure of curiosity Loki watched Thor's actions, wondering what the All-Farther thought about his eldest son's quest. Not that Thor was all that progressive; he had no intention of changing the hierarchies within Asgard in any fundamental manner, and though Loki hardly had any ideas of the sort, he despised the lack of stringency. One couldn't hope to change anything by painting the façade in a different colour.

He smirked at Thor, when he talked, thinking about how hypocritical they were, judging him for his aspirations, when they were no better themselves. Thor sought to keep ultimate power, just as he had, so what was the difference? Logically there was no difference, and if there were another answer, it eluded him. He quite frankly didn't believe there was any.

Days slowly passed by, as long as decades, and he savoured every minute of it. For far too long had time simply wasted away, without him paying any attention to it. But what had been wasn't now. His death had changed everything, and even though the bargain he had struck had allowed him his full life back, he was very aware of his destiny. The chances of him escaping future events alive seemed slim, to say the least.

The now colourful butterfly fluttered again above the flowerbed and he followed its erratic flight with his eyes. It was a meaningless existence in itself, yet part of a world that wouldn't be able to make do without the species' existence. It had haunted him since he had regained his memories, what to do.

It was time to make a decision, now when he was restored. Thor obviously wished him to stay, to help rebuild the Bifrost and the defence of Asgard, to be Thor's confidant. Loki smiled briefly at the thought. It would require him to believe that there was a place for him in Asgard, and that idea he had already abandoned long ago.

His life was as meaningless as the magically altered butterfly, and had he not died once, he perhaps would have entertained the idea to end himself. He had no desire to go back there, so he had to try. Something. Anything.

There was a possibility, an opening he had spotted. As he had watched the mortals in the dull town Puente Antiguo a plan had formed. Jane Foster would be his salvation. Besides, she was under threat though she wasn't aware of it. They all were. He didn't care one bit about Selvig, though he certainly had been useful to him, but Ms Foster had a worth.

As his thoughts wandered, Ms Foster's assistant slipped past his emotional barrier and he snorted angrily. There were moments when he watched events unfold when he despite himself found himself acting on impulse. Several times already he had done little things that threw a wrench in the machinery for their new recruit. It seemed impossible for him to watch how this snake in human form wormed his way into their lives, dulling their suspicion, by using Ms Foster's assistant. He really shouldn't do anything, but when this young woman said or did something triggering long buried memories, he simply acted. The past couldn't repeat itself; he wouldn't allow it.

Hissing at his sentiments he turned his thoughts back to Ms Foster. He would virtually do her a favour, snatching her out of the claws of the new allies to the Titan. A small smile formed on his lips.

A "rawk-rawk" echoed and his smile faltered. Though the All-Farther hadn't seen him in person, at least not after he woke up, he was watching, through his ravens. They were never far away, and though he used to have a friendly relationship with the birds, to the point when the All-Father couldn't trust his winged gossiping spies about anything concerning Loki, they never ventured close now.

He would leave. It was the logical thing to do. He would keep out of sight, until time revealed what his next move should be. Bide his time.

It wasn't an easy decision, because he knew Asgard was threatened, and even though he didn't believe in Thor's efforts to change it, Asgard was still home. If he lived through the coming events, Asgard would be his, and leaving it, being ravaged by an enemy which had been an ally until recently, did pain him. However, he could not allow himself to stay. The protection of Asgard was Thor's duty, not his.

He rose and straightened, defiantly lifting his chin, searching the surrounding trees, looking for the ravens. As was their habit, they sat perched 10 feet apart, on different branches, Muninn on a low branch and Huginn higher up.

Loki raised his eyebrows. "I take it you will follow me wherever I go," he mused out loud. Despite himself he smiled. "You, who know so many things, have the power even to stop time, cannot face me as the father you claim to be," he continued, his smile evaporating, replaced by bitterness, hardening his face. He turned his back on the birds, heading for his chambers. It was time to leave.

* * *

Loki opened the door to his chambers and stepped inside, coming to an immediate halt. In his favourite chair sat the familiar form of the All-Farther, reading one of the books Loki had brought from the library. He looked up as Loki entered the room and for a moment, which seemed to stretch in ways that should be impossible, they only stared at each other. The first one to break eye contact was the All-Father, who with a sigh closed the book and placed it on the desk next to him.

"Come and sit," he said and motioned towards a chair in front of him.

Loki hesitated for a moment, unable to shake the feeling of being a child again, with all the complicated emotions that that man always installed in him: fear, love, the wish to do anything to make the ruler of the Nine Realms notice the dark haired boy he once was.

The All-Farther sighed. "You wished me to see you, did you not?" he asked, sounding weary.

Loki pressed his lips to a hard line. Damn birds. And damn his big mouth too. "I find it peculiar that I have seen everyone but you," he replied and walked slowly over to the chair in front of the man he had called his father all his life, and sat down.

"I didn't realise you were in such a hurry. We have time," Odin replied, steadily watching his adoptive son.

Loki tilted his head slightly, focusing his eyes on the older man. "You know there isn't."

"As you pointed out, I can stop the passage of time, if needs be."

"But you're not in a habit to do so, because you prefer to not meddle." Loki raised his eyebrows. Would you do it for me? The question remained unasked.

"You are correct. Since you have the insights you have, I'm confident you know my reasons for not tampering with events or time."

Loki looked away. "I would find it difficult to not step in," he replied, his memory fresh with his own meddling of late.

"As do I. But we both know the cost of a mistake."

Loki looked back at the All-Farther, curiosity piqued by this, but the older man didn't allow him to speak. "To talk about my powers and why I choose to not act when I can, is not what I'm here to talk about. This is not easy for any of us, but it has to be brought up, the events that have come between us." Odin kept his eye steadily on Loki, who now studied his hands.

"We have discussed it, and we don't think alike," Loki said quietly.

"That was the ruler of the Nine Realms to whom you spoke, not to me, your father."

Loki's head snapped up. "You're not my father. My real father," he spat the word father, "is dead. By my own hand. You kept me for that reason, did you not? Hoping to turn the Frost Giant king's son into someone loyal to Asgard, who would do what you could not or would not."

Odin nodded. "Yes, it was my initial thought, fostering you into someone who could put an end to the conflict between our peoples, though I did not intend for you to end his life. However, it is never as simple as one hopes. You were a wonderful child, intelligent, swift as the wind, with powerful magic at your fingertips at a very young age. Troubled, taking hardships personally, trying hard to fit yourself in to the mould Thor so easily fitted into – that was you as well. You already laboured hard, so how could I burden you more, by telling you who your father was? I could not. I wished you to have that sense of belonging that is so important, especially since you already were struggling."

To Loki's frustration his body was betraying him. Emotions raged inside and the words made holes in his emotional armour. They had a bite he couldn't protect himself from. He tried to swallow the hard lump in his throat and his eyes burned. At the same time, the all-familiar anger caught fire and burned within.

"It would have been an explanation as to why I never felt like I could fit in," Loki replied, his voice hoarse. He looked up at Odin.

"It could have. It would also have created a situation in which whatever you did, you would have been judged as Frost Giant and nothing but that. You asked if you were cursed when you discovered your origin, and my answer was no. You are not. It would have been a lot more difficult for me to answer that question with a no, had you grown up as my adopted Frost Giant son, because you inevitably would have seen everything happening to you through that lens, more so than you do now. Everyone around you would have had expectations on you, expectations based in the general view on Frost Giants, and we tend to live up to expectations, good or bad. I could prevent people from being prejudiced towards you, so I decided to keep it a secret."

"So I should be grateful then?" Loki said coldly.

"No, Loki. I don't ask gratitude from my children for anything, and definitely not from you. It was a difficult decision, but over time I became more and more certain it had been the right thing to do. Especially when I turned my eyes to the future. What I missed, was that at some point I would have to let you know the truth. It shouldn't have happened the way it did. That I regret. For that I ask forgiveness."

Loki was stunned, and he sat staring at the man in front of him. He had no answer readily available, which of course was unusual for him. Could he forgive Odin? Would it change anything?

"You took the easy route, not changing people's opinions, but instead you kept my identity hidden. Had it not been in Asgard's interest to change opinions?" Loki asked.

"It would have, but you would have had to pay a high personal price for it. I agree, I could have done more. I was not unaffected by those views myself, which is part of the reason why I never really addressed them. My view was pragmatic, but based on views that I shared with the rest of Asgard. I wanted to keep the peace because I didn't wish my people to march to their deaths in a conflict. Once Jotunheim's power was broken, peace was easy to keep, because in all honesty they could not threaten us. They were under our heel, and in my opinion that was reasonable. Then. I can't say I have changed completely. But I admit my decisions were based on the welfare of Asgard first and foremost. I should have decided what was best for everyone."

Odin went silent and fingered an edge of his clothing, seemingly lost in thought for a few moments. "I felt I did what had to be done. I have always done what I felt I needed to do, for everyone in the Nine Realms. My responsibility is to keep this world from plunging in to chaos, and I have done so." He looked over at Loki.

"I admit that I have made mistakes. It would be foolish not to. The best advisers will always tell you when you're wrong, because the only way to change is to acknowledge when you've made a mistake." He sighed. "Both of you, Thor as well, are responsible for what is happening, but neither of you are as responsible as I am. It was I who raised you and made the decisions that created this situation."

Odin leaned over and reached out and gripped Loki's wrist. "You, my boy, are not cursed. You were not then and you are not now." They stared at each other for a moment until Loki glanced down at Odin's hand, wrapped around his wrist. The memory from when Odin collapsed in the weapons vault flashed before his eyes and he closed his eyes momentarily, and then looked up again.

"How can I believe I'm not? I have failed. There is no future and place for me," Loki said, face impassive, but his eyes and voice betrayed his despair as he allowed himself to think about the possibility that his plans could fail. Again.

"Nothing is as impossible as when we believe them to be impossible. I cannot lead you, or tell you what you must do. You must find that path yourself, but I have faith in you, my son. As I have faith in the people who will reach out to you and not give up, when time comes." A small smile tugged at Odin's lips.

Loki snorted. "Who would ever do something like that? You said it yourself, people judge me now when they know my true heritage." He pulled himself lose from the All-Farther's grip, unable to stand the touch any more, or his carefully crafted façade would come tumbling down, stripping him of his resolve not to turn into a pathetic, lamenting idiot.

"Yes, here in Asgard many will. But even here you have friends."

"Are you implying someone else would be willing to befriend me?" Loki asked. Dismissively he waved his hand, the spent up anger shining through. "You have said it yourself; the future is not a certain thing."

Odin grew grave. "I see this in multiple versions. As much as I would like to steer you away from certain events, I will not, for several reasons. You need to find your bearings and there are other pressing matters that I as a ruler must consider."

Loki eyed Odin but his face was as impassive as ever. For a moment Loki was tempted to ask him to tell what he had seen, who he had seen, but he didn't. He suspected he knew what Odin was talking about.

"I-I must think," Loki said and turned his eyes away.

The All-Farther nodded and put his hands on the armrests to push himself out of the chair. "I love you, my son," he said as he stood and put his hand on Loki's shoulder. "Never doubt it."

Loki looked up at Odin. He was on the verge of replying in turn, but the words died on his lips. Too many things had happened, and though he couldn't resist Odin's candidness completely, he couldn't simply turn a page. They looked at each other, Odin with his usual candour and Loki desperately trying to hide his inner conflict.

Odin then gave Loki's shoulder a squeeze and left the room with his usual determined stride, leaving silence in his wake. Loki stared at the closed door as he tried to create order out of the chaos he had inside. He closed his eyes and buried his face in his arms and wished he could cry, but unusually for him, his eyes were now dry.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As his habit had become, Ian was already in the lab when Darcy, Jane and Erik arrived in the big black S.H.I.E.L.D. SUV they now had their disposal for general transports. Darcy parked the car and fussed with her seatbelt to avoid making eye contact with Jane, then opened the vehicle door and slid out of the seat. Hello, awkward, she thought, when she noticed that Ian got out of his chair with his eyes on them.

Jane and Erik got out of the car as well, and Jane smiled politely at Ian who came walking towards them, wishing them a good morning. Erik gave Ian a quick nod before he trotted off to his work station. Jane walked past Ian too, who smiled back at her briefly before turning his full attention on Darcy.

She found herself smiling as she met him in the opening towards the street, the glass wall pushed well aside as usual. As they came to a halt he reached out and put his hand under her chin and tilted her head to kiss her. Darcy reached out and put her hands on his chest, as she kissed back, deeper than she probably should considering their audience.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked as he broke the kiss.

"I did. You?" she replied.

He stepped out of her way and Darcy let her hands drop to her sides. They walked inside the building.

"Of course. I always sleep well," he grinned.

Darcy headed over to her computer, followed by Ian, turned on the tower and the large screen and hung her bag on the office chair. He leaned casually on her desk, arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his lips. "What do you say, lunch later?" he asked as she glanced over at him.

To the right side she noticed Jane and Erik watching them. Jane discreetly, with a thoughtful face, while Erik had no compunctions with watching them openly with a scowl, leaning back in his office chair, arms demonstratively crossed over his chest. She sighed inwardly.

"I'd love to," she replied with a Cheshire cat smile.

"Looking forward to it!" he grinned back. He leaned forward, gave her a peck on the cheek and then walked back to his recently vacated chair. Darcy let her eyes slide over to Jane and Erik, smile exchanged for a scowl. Jane quickly tore her eyes away and dove in to her rolls of large prints. Erik was not so easily intimidated, but rather kept his eyes on Darcy until she sat down by her computer screen and decided to ignore him.

The morning was uneventful with Jane gone for a couple of hours, and the only things that happened were the occasional smiles Darcy and Ian exchanged. As Darcy sat down after lunch, Jane scurried over, folding chair in hand, dropping down on it once she had unfolded it. Darcy watched Jane with curiosity.

"Darcy. I've been thinking, I think it's time to build a bigger one of those portal devices. I had a revelation this morning and I think I know how to solve transportation of objects, not just signals. I need to start testing though," Jane said enthusiastically. Darcy grinned at her. "I want you to help me," she continued.

"Me? I've never built anything that complicated. Why not Erik?" Darcy asked.

"I need Erik to continue what you're doing in addition to the data analysis that he's already doing, Ian is working on double-checking the more complicated part of this build, and both Erik and he are watching the frequencies to see if something is happening out there." Jane nodded at the sky outside. "I know you're good with your hands, Darcy. You can pick the van apart if you have to and I have seen you work with Ian on the equipment. I know you can help me, and I could use it."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Darcy replied and grinned. "Welding is not my field of expertise, though." This time around it would be hard to find spare parts that would do as the casing because it needs to be bigger.

Jane waved her hand and shook her head. "You'll do fine," she laughed. "There are plenty of scraps to practice on. We don't need to make it big. I think five times the size of the first little test device I built would be sufficient. Come," Jane tugged at Darcy's sweater, "let's have a look at the prints I picked up this morning."

She jumped on her feet and almost bounded over to the big table, now cleared of the circuit boards and cables from the van in favour of several prints showing the detailed plans of the device. Darcy got on her feet and followed suit.

Soon the male part of Team Astrophysics joined Darcy and Jane, leaning over the table, looking at the print. The debate went on all afternoon, how to solve the practical issues, trying to figure out what materials would be best, if some parts should actually be built by the mechanics down the road rather than by themselves.

"Okay, I'm starving people," Darcy finally broke in, as the sun was sinking towards the horizon. Ian looked up at her expectantly and she smiled at him. "You wanna come and see how we live?" she asked.

"I'd love to, if it's not too much trouble," he replied.

Erik grunted but didn't offer anything more, but Jane smiled politely. "Of course not. It's Darcy's day to cook too, and I'm sure she would appreciate some company in the kitchen," she said with a glance at Darcy.

Jane relinquished sitting shotgun and climbed in the back with Erik, as she tried to keep a normal conversation going with him that required him to answer in full sentences rather than with a simple yes or no or the occasional grunt. Ian stopped as he had pulled the car door open, looking at Jane.

"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer sitting in the front?" he asked.

Jane shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine here, thank you," she replied.

With one last look, he climbed inside and closed the door and buckled his seatbelt.

"It's not far," Darcy said as she put the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine rumbled to life and Darcy shifted the gear to "D" and released the brake as she looked over her shoulder before she sped up, rolling up on the road that would take them back to their home.

During the short drive Darcy pointed out general landmarks. She talked about the town's short lifespan, which, from the look of things, wouldn't extend more than perhaps another generation unless something big happened, not including visits from Asgardian terminators.

As they closed in on the outskirts of the town, the eclectic architectural style became more apparent, varying between run-down trailer homes and New Mexican-style homes, complete with adobe walls and sparse gardens. Darcy pointed out the various houses on their street and introduced their neighbours, until they finally rolled off the asphalt onto the gravel in front of their own trailer home.

There wasn't much in the way of landscaping on their plot, but on the other hand it wasn't cluttered with junk either, like some of their neighbour's plots were. A couple of Honey Locusts, today with a couple of large black crows, or perhaps it was ravens – Darcy wasn't quite sure – perched on a branch, grasses and some yuccas, was all there was to it. Ian stopped as he exited the car and took in the surroundings as he waited for Darcy to make it around the car.

"It really is different to what I'm used to," he said as she came up to him. They followed Erik and Jane who clomped up the steps on to the porch to let themselves in.

Darcy looked around. "I love the sky," she said. "It's massive, especially at night. Going out with Jane is actually amazing." She looked over at him. "I grew up here. Well, not exactly here, but in New Mexico. It's really home to me," she explained as she walked up the few steps to the door.

"I've only ever seen anything similar before, with the sky arching like this, in northern Sweden. I spent a month as part of a project during my second year at university. It was the opposite to this place in many ways, more trees, less cacti, snow, a lot of snow, and dark, but the sky? Same thing," he said as he followed Darcy in to their home.

Darcy laughed. "Isn't that like really far north?" she asked and put the car key on its usual hook by the door. Jane turned towards them.

"Kiruna, right?" Jane asked.

"Yes. It was a collaboration among several universities, including Cambridge. Very interesting," Ian answered.

"You were there in winter?" Jane said as she sat down at the dinner table.

"Late February to late March," he replied. Darcy walked over to the kitchen and started bringing out the various food items she would need for the meal, and then she washed her hands. Ian stopped by the table.

"I spent a month there too, once, in January. It was horribly cold, but incredible. The auroras were to kill for," Jane said and leaned down to pull some papers out of her bag. Erik entered the common area from the bathroom and went over to the table and sat down next to Jane, who handed him a couple of the papers she had dug out.

"I'm curious, where did you get your education, Erik?" Ian asked.

Erik looked up at the young man, as if he had been surprised by the question. "The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. I eventually moved to Culver, because Sweden isn't the best place for an aspiring astrophysicist," he said.

Ian nodded. "It's the same story for almost everyone, it seems," he said with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

Erik nodded. "I would have liked to have stayed back home. I like it here, but it's a long way from where I grew up, and sometimes I miss it." He glanced at the barren landscape outside. "I will never get used to that," he continued and gave the window a nod.

"It is different, isn't it?" he said and followed Erik's line of sight. "The heat and the lack of rain. Strange."

"Oh please, stop bonding over cold climates!" Jane said looking up from her paper.

"Oh Jane, you'll never understand it," Erik chuckled and Ian joined in.

Darcy turned around to look at them. "Dude, you're so dead if you don't come over here on the double to keep me company!" she said.

Ian literally jumped over to the compact kitchen like a triple jumper and stopped short of colliding with Darcy. "What can I do?" he asked.

* * *

Darcy put the car keys on the hook by the door and strolled over to the kitchen. She opened the dishwasher, fished out a glass and turned on the faucet. As she filled up the glass, Jane stuck her head out from her room.

"Hey," she said.

Darcy turned and smiled at her. "What?"

Jane came out of her room and walked over to the kitchen. "Nothing in particular."

"Liar." Darcy leaned against the counter and sipped her water eyeing Jane.

Jane brought out a glass and went over to the fridge and opened it, obviously in search of some iced tea. "Just feeling some sisterly protectiveness," she replied and fished out a pitcher. They heard footfalls and they both turned towards the hallway and saw Erik entering the common area, glass in hand.

"Don't put it back in the fridge," he said and nodded at the pitcher and put the glass on the counter. Jane filled up her glass and then filled up his glass too, and smiled fondly at Erik.

"Don't take it the wrong way, but I think I can handle things," Darcy smiled.

"Just making sure. I'm glaring at him too, so he knows I'm watching him," Jane said as she put the pitcher back into the fridge. Darcy glanced quickly at Erik who picked up the glass but made no move to return to his room.

Darcy snickered. "Oh, have you seen those big black birds hanging around the lab lately? I've seen some hanging around on the property too," she said.

"Birds?" Jane asked sceptically.

Darcy swallowed another sip of water. "Yeah. 'Rawk-rawk'. Flap, flap." Darcy made a poor impression of a bird, with the water spilling out of the glass that she still held in her hand.

Jane and Erik's eyes met in confusion.

"Nature is invading and you are missing it," Darcy said and pointed at them with her glass. "I'm going to bed now anyway," she continued and put the glass on the counter top. "Night!"

Erik and Jane wished her good night too and Jane watched her go into the bathroom.

"It rankles. Jane, things are starting to happen again, strange things." Erik leaned forward as he spoke.

Jane leaned on the counter and looked towards the bathroom. "Are you . . . Can you, like, sense something?" Jane slowly sipped on her ice tea, eyeing Erik with concern in her eyes.

"I don't know." He sighed. "I just have this slight sense of . . . someone or something."

"You think it's him?" A slight shiver was detectable as she spoke. She didn't clarify who she meant. Between Erik and her "him" could be none other than Loki.

"It shouldn't be, but then again, it's entirely possible. We just don't know what's going on in Asgard." He paused. "I don't know, it could be anyone. Odin even."

"Why?"

"He's the All-Farther. He may have his reasons."

"Great. Can he do the same things as Loki?"

"More." Erik gulped down some of the ice tea. "As far as I have understood, Odin will not intervene unless we are at risk as a species. Say what you will, but Loki's intentions weren't to get rid of us. He was serious in his intent to rule."

"So if it's Odin, why?"

"Jane, I don't know. I don't know if it is Odin. Or Loki, or someone else entirely. Or maybe I'm just paranoid."

Jane gave him a pained smile in recognition. "But what if it's Loki? What is he up to?"

"Something that is for his own benefit, most likely."

"I sometimes I think I hate that man," Jane said sadly.

"No Jane. I don't think you should. No one should." Erik drank the last of the iced tea and put his glass on the counter too. "It's too easy to hate Loki. The hard thing is to think there could be a change."

Jane finished off her glass too and was quiet.

Erik studied the floor under their feet. "Something will have to happen or we'll all die."

"That's not thinking there could be a change," Jane pointed out.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. "Every fibre in me screams in protest when I think about it, but . . ." He paused and laughed nervously. "I can hardly bring myself to say it, but I think we need to have it in us to think he can change his ways. Not his personality, but what he does, and his plans," he said.

She gave him a long look. "You really think that's possible?

"He's not much different than any of us. Problem is, he believes he's doing the right thing and that's a dangerous notion. He is what he is, that won't change. He'll never be like Thor. What he can do, is stop going down the path he's on, take another one, let go of what has happened and find his own way, without the crap he's filling it with now. That's what we can hope for, I think."

Jane carefully put down her glass and looked at it. "Well, I don't know. Do they have some kind of therapy on Asgard? Because I think he needs it. A lot," she said.

"Can't say." Erik smiled and looked fondly at her. "Thor will need you on his side on this."

Jane gave him a quick glance. "Thor's not here. Even if he comes back, that doesn't mean he cares for what I think. I can't spend the rest of my life with Thor as some sort of standard for everything. I really don't want to think about this at all."

"I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm simply suggesting I think Thor will listen to you."

"We don't know that." she looked down at the glasses on the counter.

"Whatever happens, I think Thor will continue caring about you." Erik glanced towards the hallway where Darcy walked from the bathroom to her own room.

"I prefer not to think about it, that's all, and most definitely not about Loki."

He looked back at Jane. "He's dangerous, but he's even more so when everyone expects it from him. Change has to start somewhere," he said.

Jane smiled at him. "I never thought I'd hear you say something like that."

"Don't get me wrong. That man? I wish we'd never met. Problem is that he's a powerful alien and has the possibility to drag us all down. It might seem, I don't know, presumptuous, perhaps, to think that our opinions matter. I just have this feeling that it will matter."

* * *

Jane and Darcy spent the next few days chasing components, convincing the mechanic nearby to weld the metal casing for the portal opener, or the "Minifrost", as they had dubbed it. The flirting with Ian escalated quickly and she spent the weekend at his place, mostly without clothes.

Monday morning Jane quickly cornered Darcy as she was going over the electrical components before their assembly.

"I didn't expect you to be gone all weekend," Jane said and started picking at the heap of parts.

"It was kinda inevitable, I guess. What else is there to do around here, if you don't get drunk at the bar?" Darcy said, as she marked a bundle of cables.

"You slept with him?" Jane asked, eyes widening.

"Duh. I don't do platonic," Darcy replied.

"But you only started seeing each other last week!" Jane hissed, turning her back towards Ian as he looked up at them, studying them with an amused look on his face.

Darcy quirked her eyebrows at Jane. "I didn't think you were such a prude. We've worked together for several weeks. I see him every day, all day. It's not like we were strangers when he asked me out."

Jane crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Darcy. "I'm not a prude. I don't mind people having a sex life. At all."

Darcy grinned. "Great! Then you don't mind if he spends the night at our place then?"

Jane sighed. "In theory, no. Is he loud?" she asked.

Darcy snorted. "No. I'm not much of a screamer myself."

A bleak smile graced Jane's lips. "Good. Because I'm not interested in listening to you two."

"Feeling a bit jealous?" Darcy asked.

"No." There was a pause where Darcy watched Jane. "Well, perhaps. A bit. You think this is such a good idea?"

"I'm not calling Mom, if that's what you're asking. It's just a bit of fun really," Darcy said and lifted a circuit board to take a closer look at it. Jane gave her a long look. "What?" Darcy asked and put down the piece of electronics.

"You know what people who start smoking excuse themselves with?" Jane asked.

"Nope," Darcy said and leaned her hands on the table, looking at Jane.

"I'm only smoking when it's a party. But before you know it, it's party time every day."

"Good thing then I don't have any plans on starting smoking," Darcy grinned.

"You know what I mean. A bit of fun could quickly turn in to something a lot more serious," Jane pointed out.

Darcy glanced over at Ian who now seemed engrossed in whatever he was doing. "I get your point. But really, there's nothing to worry about. I'll . . . be careful."

"And getting in between the sheets with him is being careful?"

"It's just sex. And he makes me laugh. He thinks I'm smart." Darcy reached out and picked up some wiring and marked it.

Jane winced. "I wish I could just be happy for you, but you know why I can't."

"I know. Until he comes out as a demon however, I'm going to assume he's human and treat him like one."

Jane put her hand on Darcy's shoulder and squeezed it tightly. "I'm going over to the mechanic and check on how he's doing. See you later, okay?" Darcy nodded and continued sorting components. Jane went over to her desk and picked up her bag and stalked out of the building in the direction the local workshop, throwing a quick glare in Ian's direction.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Loki spent long hours that evening staring at the night sky. After a quiet evening meal he slunk outside and wandered in the garden trying to sort out his thoughts, until he sat down in the mild evening, doing what he loved as a child, loosening the ties that held the atoms in his body together and coming apart ever so slightly, not enough to kill, but enough to experience the elements surrounding him, ever so slightly blending with the air around him. It had always made him happy to be part of everything in that way and it was the only time he had ever felt he belonged, because he was part of something much larger than the petty politics of Asgard.

He lost track of time and his thoughts stilled. Nothing lasts forever though and the presence of another trickled through his drifting mind, and he closed his eyes and regained his usual form.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to you doing that," Sif said, and her voice was even, with an underlying tension in it.

Loki turned his head and stared at the woman standing at the perfect distance for both attack and flight. Digging in his memory he tried to recall if she always had done that, positioning herself as well as using stealth, even as a child, and realised that yes, she had. It had been as natural as breathing or magic to him. Unwillingly he smiled.

"We all have our habits." His smile was knowing as he let his eyes travel over her form. She was as usual in her favourite clothes, tunic, tight fitting pants and boots. No armour and no weapons. His smile turned into a smirk. They hadn't talked to each other since that day when she had pleaded for Thor's return. He sensed she was about to plead again, on Thor's and Asgard's behalf and a wish to scream at her to leave him alone rose within. No. He wasn't going to let any of _them_ get to him.

Sif raised her chin defiantly and her eyes flashed as she watched his calculating smile. Loki's grin widened at the sight of her irritation, another predictable trait.

"You did not come here to watch me come apart at the seams," Loki said, trying to steer things away from the inevitable snipe fest that would follow if he kept poking at her. He had no interest in such activities any more.

Sif walked over to the bench where he was sitting and sat down next to him, a completely alien thing for her to do. She was going for earnest, that much was clear.

"You are leaving, aren't you?" she asked and looked him straight in the eye, as was her habit.

"I have said nothing of the sort," he replied smoothly, leaning his elbows on his knees, tilting his head as he peered at her.

"No Loki. I never expected you to. But it is what you'll do, isn't it?" She kept her eyes on him, and though she certainly tried to be her usual self, something was not quite right. The tight muscles, the slight strain on her face, eyes darker than usual. He tilted his head and mused.

"Have you suddenly developed a concern for my well-being?" he asked teasingly. An instant scowl on her face almost made him burst into laughter. He shouldn't raise her ire but oh it was so easy.

"You are not, and will not be an object of concern for me. Not in the way you imply," Sif hissed.

Loki sighed and he grew serious. He'd give her one piece of advice in all of this that was honest. He hated waste and Lady Sif was wasting herself at this moment. "Put away your love, Lady Sif. Though I care for you as much as you care for me, I have to say it. You're wasting your time and love on stony ground." He let his eyes wander over the garden around them.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, looking confused.

He glanced back at her and sighed. "I know how much you care for Thor. You'd never ever admit to it and you certainly won't pine for him, but we've known each other long enough to see through the pretence. If he has not, after all this time, professed his love for you, he never will."

At his side, Sif sighed, a deep heartfelt one. "I knew it would be hopeless. You haven't changed."

White hot anger pierced through him like a spear, and he turned towards her and gripped her arm, pulling her into his face. "You are certainly one of the most stubborn women in existence. Listen to me. I have watched you two for far longer than I wish to remember. There was a time when I in jealousy had designs on you, that's true, but those times are long gone. Long gone are also the times when I would intentionally injure your precious emotions. I would not waste a second on such childishness now, after all that has happened." He let go of her with a push, contempt stamped on his face. "I prefer honesty and you'd do well to listen to it."

Sif eyed him with a gaze as hard as shards of glass. "Then have some of your own medicine. I have watched you manipulate and twist people longer than I care to remember, and you were always especially successful with Thor. You have hurt everyone who ever cared about you, and your selfishness seems to have no limits, because when you now are restored you plan on scuttling out of here, leaving us to sort out your mess. You let down the people who love you and are hoping for a real change. You're still acting like a child, Loki. Grow up!"

"And you are a hypocrite! Thor has flattened villages and killed more people than I ever have. Yet when he does it, it's for a good cause. You do things in the name of good that, by any objective bystander, would be called horrible. You just can't handle when your precious truths are revealed as lies!" Loki's form was filled with dark rage, radiating off him in waves, he sat straight and seemed to grow and come down on her. She faced him unflinchingly, knowing this was just a manifestation of his anger. A small smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth. Lady Sif was not afraid of him. Just as quickly as the storm blew up, it subsided and Loki was back into his usual self, throwing her a condescending glance.

"I will not quarrel with you any further," he said haughtily.

"Good. Is there anything anyone can do to change your mind?" she asked.

Loki was quiet, seemingly pondering her question. "You know as well as I do that I don't belong here. I never did. It's not so much what I have done, as what I am, and I don't have any sense of belonging anywhere." He looked up at the stars above.

"This place," he waved in the general direction of the palace buildings, "is the place where I grew up. I know it well, and yet, it's not my home." Turning his eyes to Sif he continued, "Can you grasp it? What it's like to live a lie? To be deviant? We have so much in common, you and I, and yet we never could see eye-to-eye." A flash of pain washed over his features and he tore his eyes away from her and slumped, putting his elbows on his knees again.

"I will let people down who have expectations on me that I can never fulfil." He clenched his teeth, pondering if he should lie to her or not. Lies should be used carefully, but he wanted her off his back. "I have made acquaintances that are dangerous to Asgard. They will seek me out here and it will be your ruin." Not a complete lie. They would destroy Asgard whether he was here or not of course, but he would have been blamed for that strike, as he always was blamed for everything else.

"You know we would all face it together, as we always have," Sif said, radiating her usual belligerence, and this time she actually reached out her hand and put it on his arm.

Loki snorted, but didn't respond. He stared at her hand for a moment and then turned away, trying to shield himself from her touch, but her warmth seeped through the fabric.

"I cannot let you do this. Yes, it's true that part of me wouldn't want to see Thor devastated because of you, but this about so much more than Thor. You know what's coming." Sif leaned forward trying to catch his eyes. Unable to do that she reached out and turned his face towards her. Loki flinched and pulled back.

"I know perfectly well what's coming, and I had a plan, a good plan, which is now wrecked. Where does that leave me? It leaves me with nothing," he spat.

"Then, if you know, you also know you have a choice. Right now you're not choosing, you're about to let fate run your life. If you leave Asgard . . ." Sif didn't continue.

Loki raised his eyebrows at her and sneered. "Yes, I'll come back and lead an army of the people Asgard deems too weak to smite Asgard." His tone was sarcastic.

"We don't know what will happen, and though it might seem unlikely that anyone would join you under a banner, you were well on your way on Midgard."

"Stop believing in children's stories Lady Sif." Weariness washed over him. He wanted this conversation to end. Now.

Sif glared at him. "Stay. Don't throw your life away."

"Who is talking about throwing my life away? Not me." A smirk formed on his lips.

"I'm saying you will if you leave."

"Lady Sif, there is so much you don't know about the future. Not many do." He paused briefly. "I will do as I see fit. You never know, maybe that is what ultimately saves your precious existence after all," he said lightly.

Sif was not one to give in to despair, but at that moment she felt tendrils of despondency wrapping themselves around her heart. "Loki, please!" she cried and gripped his arm tightly.

"It's not like you to beg," Loki replied smoothly, but then he sighed and dropped the calculating façade. "Don't humiliate yourself."

Sif yanked away her hand as if she had burned it on him. "So you will take off, All-Farther knows where, and break the hearts of Thor and the queen?"

"Curiously you did not mention the man calling himself my father," Loki said silkily. Sif stared at him. "What? No reassurance that he loves me too?" he continued.

"He has a great deal of other things on his mind."

"So much that he can't spare a tiny bit of care for the child he stole from Jotunheim?" He sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "It says much if people who know us both assume the All-Farther is distancing himself from me." Looking over at Sif he continued, "He has not." He offered nothing more as explanation.

"I don't understand."

Loki sighed and met her eyes. "There is nothing more to say. I will leave. I have been lied to for a millennium and have become a scapegoat. I still have some self-worth and I will not live the rest of my days here, scorned and ridiculed. You cannot stop me." He stood and looked up at the night sky. "Good-bye Lady Sif. May your future be prosperous."

With that he disappeared and left a whiff of green smoke dissolving in the air.

"You coward!" she shouted at the empty garden and slumped, then leaning her face in her hands. "I curse you to the end of times." She abruptly stood and stalked off towards the palace. If he hadn't actually left yet, there might still be a chance to stop him.

* * *

Thor was brooding. There was no other word for it. Since Loki had joined them at meals he had been quiet, keeping to his own, setting up a façade of indifference. Thor could see through that façade, and he expected his friends to do the same. Something had happened of late though and Loki had turned from sullen to distracted. Today the distraction had been especially palpable, and Thor had caught Loki watching him several times. Loki had made a point to never look at Thor in public.

The rest of the dinner crowd hadn't seem to notice, except Sif, who had shot glances Loki's way throughout the meal. That in itself alarmed Thor. She had a sharp eye. After the meal Loki had disappeared into the garden and Thor had watched him for a long while, as he first wandered and then sat down. The slight shimmer around his contours indicated where he was seated and that he was in what Thor usually called a contemplative mood. He'd seen it so many times, and he knew what Loki was doing, and normally it would install a sense of ease, that his brother was becoming himself again, but not this evening. Something was not right.

He was sitting by the fire, watching the flames, pondering why he was so ill at ease, from time to time looking up and out at the stars. Jane entered his mind, unbidden but hardly unwelcome, and he once again felt that familiar twinge of sadness.

It should be ridiculous really, his affection for this mortal girl. Of course, there had been others, women he had known far better and longer who had charmed him, but he had seen them in a different way then. Mortals had been amusing, familiar enough for the Æsir to feel at home with them, but ultimately a primitive race of beings who couldn't defend themselves against any of the other realms should they have designs on Midgard.

The mortals had certainly come a long way, and it had surprised them all. They were ingenious and were on the verge of taking huge leaps that would, in some cases, surpass even the Æsir. Despite their frailty, but perhaps more because of it, they were a force to be reckoned with. Somehow Jane had nestled herself in his mind as the image of humanity these days, intelligent, educated, easily sympathising with those less fortunate.

Not that there hadn't been mortals who had displayed such talent in the past. Of course there had been. A memory of a burning cottage came to him and he closed his eyes. It was a dangerous thing to speak of change and how there could be other ways to live, because it could easily be seen as a threat. The voice for change had been burned, and that barbaric act weighed heavily on Thor. No one had shown any interest in finding the ones responsible for the death of a mortal, not even his father. Maybe, if this hadn't happened, what was happening now wouldn't have happened at all.

He looked out at the city below. He had always loved his home but he could see how they had become weak, and not because of their weakened military might or false leniency, but because they had stagnated. As long as he could remember Asgard had been what it was today, timeless, but also living in a glorious past. The frantic activity on Midgard, their thirst for knowledge and progress had catapulted them in a couple of hundred years from peasants to people ready to travel to the stars.

They had huge problems, true, but sometimes he had to admit that Asgard might have even bigger problems, at least in the long run. Improvising, that's what they did, the mortals, and somehow they pulled through. Their shorts lives forced them to be active in a way Asgardians didn't have to be. With a lopsided smile, Thor recalled his never ending wonder at his brother's ways, always doing things the thorough and complicated way, when the fact was that he could wave a hand and be done with whatever he was doing. Walking, for instance. Loki had done a lot of it. Riding too. Everything that demanded skill he had rather done himself without deploying magic. He had done it even before his entanglement with the mortal girl long dead in that fire. Thor hadn't understood it then, but he thought he did now. He kept learning that way. Thor sighed and turned his eyes to the fire again.

His thoughts went back to his brother, the troubled soul. Looking back he could now see how Loki had drifted away from the rest of them, slowly turning from them, changing to what he was today. Though the pace had stepped up after Thor's banishment, the beginning of this road had begun many centuries ago. They had all been blind to it, but what ate at Thor the most was that he had made things worse with what he had seen as banter. He pushed it away from him. What had been done couldn't be changed. He had to look forward. Do things differently in the future.

Leaning forward he gripped the poker and pushed around the wood in the fire, not because it needed his attention, but because it had always fascinated him to do it. A loud crack sent sparks erupting in the air, and they soared and died. In that moment he couldn't resist longing for a simpler time, before all of this blew up in his face. A sad smile spread over his face as he remembered adventures long past, but it died and he covered his face with his hands. It was expected of him that he'd save them if he could, and he would do everything in his power to do it, make the right decisions, do what it would take. But in this moment the weight of it all was keenly felt.

Footsteps closing in with haste forced him to push down the abyss of emotions that threatened to engulf him, and he looked up. He knew those steps, and he smiled as he listened to them grow closer. Lady Sif all but ran in to the chamber, locating the man she was seeking. Her face was grim.

"Thor, Loki is leaving," she began, crouching down. "I spoke with him just now, because I suspected something at the evening meal, and he didn't deny it is his plan." She reached out and gripped his shoulder, as was her habit, and her eyes pierced right through him.

Thor almost chuckled. After all this time, would he ever see the writing on the wall? Yes, of course Loki was leaving. He was back in health, had his powers back, and though he probably had intended to run as soon as he could, something had triggered it this afternoon.

"Did he give you his reasons?" Thor asked. He knew, but he wanted to hear anyway.

Sif looked away. "Nothing we didn't know before today." She turned back towards him with an eager face. "I don't think he has left just yet. You might succeed where I could not!"

Thor heaved himself up on his feet, not quite with the usual determination, and then he paused briefly, throwing a glance at Sif.

"You have to!" she urged.

"Though I would want nothing more than to keep him here, I doubt I can stop him," he said quietly. Sif stared at him and he hung his head, eyes on the floor. "I will try, because I must, but he must wish this himself, or it will never end well."

He turned and walked heavily out of the chamber, leaving Sif standing by the hearth, staring after him. We're cursed, she thought and sank down next to where Thor had been sitting. She reached out, hesitated for a second, but then she placed her hand, palm down, on the spot he had occupied. The warmth radiated from the seat and she sighed.

"Curse you to the end of times," she whispered.

* * *

Loki didn't move himself far. He simply wanted to get out of Sif's company, so he materialised just some 70 yards from the spot where she was still sitting. When he heard her cursing him, he smirked.

"Be careful what you wish for," he said under his breath and watched her hurry off. "Run off to Thor and tell on me," he scowled. He had no wish to meet Thor, to discuss this once more, because naturally Thor would come too. Sighing he took one last look at the garden and buildings surrounding him, before he vanished.

When he materialised, he was looking at a landscape quite different to the one he had left. The grassy flatness, punctuated by black angular rock, with no dwellings in sight was what met his eyes. There was a distant roar of a waterfall, but otherwise all that was heard was the wind. He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders, as if he was shedding all his troubles, and looked up at the stars above, almost painfully bright. A small smile played on his lips, and he set off.

Though Thor had enjoyed adventures and the outdoors, he was not much for subtleties. He craved action, things to occupy himself with. Loki was always pulled into those activities of course, but there were times when he had set off on his own. Being able to walk between worlds helped, of course, and during the day he could easily travel in ways the others couldn't. There was no need for long treks, wasting days and weeks. Shortly after he had mastered teleportation, and he went further and further away from his home. He had found this place, a tall waterfall with a ravine and a wide and shallow stream at the bottom, and on one slopes, perched safely from quickly raising waters, facing south, he had come across the perfect hideout. It was an abandoned cottage, typical for the region, with thick stone walls on three sides embedded in the ground, a gable with a wood façade, the whole building covered with a thick turf of grass, walls and roof.

It had been in a sorry state inside but he kept coming back to it, slowly cleaning it out, and repairing the damage to it. Eventually he filled it with things that made the place a comfortable hideout. It was the only place that was entirely his own, that no one knew about. A safe place. He intended it to continue to be so. Heimdall himself wouldn't see or hear anything.

He gingerly held out his hand and a ball of green tinged light formed in it and slowly he found his way in the darkness down to the cottage. When he found it, he quickly entered it to take in the general state of things. Nothing seemed to have been touched, but it would need some cleaning, as expected.

For once he took the short cuts he usually didn't otherwise allow himself. As he walked through the room, he lit the fire in the hearth, and the candles on the table. He stopped in the middle of the room, held up his hands and turned his palms towards each other and stretched his fingers, looking around the room. In an instant it was in a pristine condition, and he smiled slightly. A book materialised in his hand and he sat down by the table and started reading. For the first time in a very long while he was as close to happy as he could be.

* * *

Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** As always, thank you for reading! When I opened the notes with the document my beta sent me, I got a brain freeze, which is why you had to wait until today (Saturday) for this chapter. As my beta is on the dark side of the moon, I had to try and get through this on my own too, so I'm in part flying solo here.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

The building process took a lot longer than Darcy thought it would and involved a lot more machinery than she had imagined. To be able to build the size to transport anything that had a physical form, the Minifrost had to be considerably larger than the little device Jane had built first. There was a short debate on where it should be built, but after checking the structural integrity of the lab, it was decided it would be put up on the roof. Out of reach for curious people and close at hand.

The local mechanic had welded together the casing, which was going to house the mechanics and electronics, and when Darcy tagged along to take a look at it, her jaw dropped. Because of its size it was in two pieces to get out the doors of the workshop. But it was clear it wasn't anything you'd pick up and carry down the street. You would have to lift it up on the roof, too. Jane simply smiled cheerfully and ordered a crane truck to get the pieces from the workshop to the lab roof.

Darcy was ripping apart a computer tower, when the truck showed up with its precious cargo. The tower had been acting up that morning and she had opened it up to clean it out, check on the cables and make sure the various components were okay. She spared the vehicle parking outside a glance and then continued with her job, ignoring the few curious town's people stopping by to look at the spectacle.

Jane was already outside with Erik and Ian at her heels and Darcy concluded they'd do a fine job of being in the way, irritating the guy who was going to hoist up the large metal housing on the lab roof without her help. As she finished up and checked if everything was running as normal, a thud above her head told her the first piece were being put in its place on the roof.

Curiosity finally drove her towards the doors leading outside, as the second piece was in the air, on its way to the roof. She walked slowly towards the open glass doors with mug in hand and her eyes on the dangling piece of metal when the floor under her feet suddenly rippled, like it had been liquid. Darcy's foot caught in the uneven surface and she stumbled forward, coffee spilling from the mug. She managed to stay on her feet and continued towards the door, a bit faster than before.

Looking down she saw the floor move just as if someone had dropped a stone in water. Whatever this was, she did not mean to stay and check it out. Concrete moving like that could only mean one thing, magic at work, potentially life threatening. Quickening her steps she tried to reach the doors when the ripples changed in size and caught her feet again. This time she fell, dropping her mug which shattered all over the floor. She landed on all four, with her left hand on a ceramic shard from the mug. With a startled cry of pain she sank down on the floor, lifting her hand to examine the injury.

In that moment a hard speeding noise cut through her eardrums and a whip-like sound sliced the air. As Darcy looked up she saw a cable from the old crane truck's lift arm cut through the empty space just outside the doors she had been aiming for. It continued through the air and slashed right through the tires of the crane truck, and with a screech the second piece of the Minifrost casing came to a halt in the air, swinging dangerously above ground.

Her heart was beating hard as she stared at the damage the cable had caused. If the floor hadn't rippled and made her fall over, she would have been hit by the cable, just as she stepped outside. She threw a quick look at the floor and to her surprise it was a flat as it always had been, with no signs of anything unusual happing. Absently she listened to the loud voices outside as she got on her feet and dusted off her tights with her good hand. An annoyed Jane came inside just as she looked up again.

"What happened?" Jane asked and stopped just inside the doors, taking in the mess on the concrete floor and Darcy's dusty and shaken appearance. She held out her hand and turned towards the doors and stepped into the opening. "Guys? Please make that phone call, will you?" A foreign voice in the local dialect replied an affirmative, accompanied with a string of invectives.

Jane turned back and strode towards Darcy.

"Those old trucks are lethal! I don't understand how the hell that cable could just snap like that, but it did. God knows when we get the second piece on the roof now. The emergency brakes worked anyway," she groused as she crossed over the concrete floor.

"I-I . . ." Darcy stared at the damaged tires. It started to really sink in that she would have been dead if she hadn't face-planted on the concrete.

Jane stopped in front of her, eyes on the blood dripping from her hand.

"How did you hurt your hand?" Jane asked, and took Darcy's hand in hers, studying the injury. "Come on, let's clean this up and have a look," she continued and dragged Darcy along to the kitchen.

"I fell over," Darcy tried to explain as they stopped by the sink and Jane turned on the water. "I can't explain it, but I was on my way out when the floor..." she grimaced in pain as Jane started cleaning up the cut, examining it closely to get a better look at the cut. She raised her eyes.

"You mean you were going outside?" Jane's voice was collected and calm, but her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yeah . . . I should be dead now," Darcy responded and looked over her shoulder at the open doors and the truck outside.

"You have a piece of the mug here. I'll get the tweezers and get it out," Jane said and turned towards the med kit on the wall. Darcy stood with her hand in the air, just as Jane had held it, staring at the gash.

"It's not like you to fall like that," Jane said with a frown as she picked up the tweezers.

Darcy shifted her eyes from the injury to Jane. "The floor moved. It was like it turned in to a liquid."

Jane's head whipped up, clearly alarmed. "What?"

"I swear, it was moving like in waves. First I managed to stay on my feet but as I tried to speed up towards the doors, it got worse and I dropped the mug and fell over. And wham, the cable snapped."

Jane threw a glance at the floor inside the doors. "Floors don't move like that!"

"Tell me about it. I thought it was going to open like some sinkhole or something. A weird sinkhole, but you know how weird things always happens to us . . ." her voice trailed off.

Jane's eyes were still nailed to the floor. "I wonder," she started saying, and then turned her attention towards Darcy. "Maybe . . . Maybe someone was . . . No, that's just superstition," Jane mused and shook her head and turned her attention back to Darcy's hand.

"Well, whatever it was, or whoever did it, it saved my life," Darcy said weakly. "Ouch!" She jerked her hand at the pain as Jane tried to ease the shard out of the gash.

"Hold still. The sooner it's out the less painful it will be." Jane frowned in concentration and moved the tweezers. This time she easily pulled the shard free and dropped it in the sink. "Wash it properly. I'll find something to put over it." She turned to the med kit again while Darcy started to carefully clean the hand. Picking up the Neosporin, she put it next to the sink.

"You know, considering we know a man with a cape who commands thunder, and have seen an alien army lead by his shape-shifting brother invade New York, we shouldn't really be surprised things like that can happen." Darcy dried her aching hand with a paper towel and then picked up the salve to put some on.

"But this is guardian angel nonsense," Jane remarked as she held out the band aid to put it over the injury. "We've not seen much of that before. It's up there with stories about people having a flat that turns out to save their life later on."

Darcy shrugged. "You never know. But the floor? Definitely magic. I've never seen anything like it."

Jane finished off dressing the gash, and looked over at the concrete floor once more. "In that case, I wonder who it was. Friend or enemy."

"I would say friend," Darcy said with a smile.

"At least someone who wants you alive. Doesn't have to be a friend," Jane pointed out.

Darcy sighed. "I'd still call whoever did this a friend. Saving someone's life is no small thing. If I find out I'll hug them to bits."

Jane smiled. "I'd like think it's a friend too. Problem is, those we would call friends are still in Asgard, and neither of them are doing that kind of . . . magic."

Darcy made a face. Jane was right in her caution.

"I'll go outside and see how they're solving this," Jane said and put her hand on Darcy's arm before heading for the doors.

"I'm staying here, cleaning up," Darcy replied. "No way I'm going near that death trap again," she continued and grabbed a broom.

* * *

The two Minifrost pieces were eventually, very late the same day, welded together on the roof and the work to put together the actual machinery began. They put up a canopy on the roof of the lab and crawled around for days, working on it, skipping the weekend, just to finish it.

"We are so in luck that this is a desert, despite winter," Jane muttered several times a day as she was putting electronics in place and wiring them up. She also kept the area restricted. No one but Darcy and she were allowed up there. Erik smiled knowingly when Jane put her foot down. Ian took it in stride, not even asking Darcy about it.

"See? He doesn't bug me for anything about it. Spawn of the devil? I don't think so!" Darcy triumphantly declared when they were nearing the end of the build.

"Maybe he doesn't have to ask you," Jane suggested as she tested the panel in front of her.

"Ha ha. You mean mind reader?" Darcy considered it for a moment. "Nope. If he was, he would have made some mistake by now."

Jane gave her a long look and went back to the panel.

"You really think we should test it at night? I mean, if it lights up like a signal, the whole town will be able to see it," Darcy said.

"Late at night. After three, I doubt that many will be awake. Plus it's better power-wise."

Darcy looked around them, letting her eyes wander over the buildings nearby and the streets. It wasn't very busy, but the occasional car drove past and people went into and came out of the diner across the street. Something moved in the corner of her eye and she turned her head and met the blue eyes of Natasha Romanoff, coming up the stairs.

"Natasha!" she called out and scrambled to her feet. Jane turned around and tried to catch a view of the newcomer by leaning backwards.

Natasha smiled slightly and walked over to them.

"Great to see you," Darcy continued and spied towards the staircase. "No bird of prey today either?

"The Director is downstairs talking to your colleagues," Natasha said with a hint of humour in her voice. "We were told there was a no-men-allowed policy concerning the roof."

Darcy laughed and Jane looked awkward. "It was meant to limit the number down of people up here," Jane replied diplomatically.

Natasha crouched down next to Jane and her smile grew wider. "Wise. We were passing by and thought we should visit," she explained.

Darcy crouched down next to the red-haired women raised an eyebrow. "Who won the staring contest?" she asked, remembering the glares that had been exchanged before between Natasha and Ian. Natasha turned her eyes towards Darcy, still with a smile playing on her lips.

"Oh right. What was I thinking. You, right?" Darcy snickered.

"I wouldn't say there was a contest," Natasha returned.

"You want a run-down?" Jane asked, now back at tinkering with the panel again.

"Not really. I want something more along the lines of a time table and what you hope to get out of this," Natasha replied.

"Without Fury?" Darcy asked.

"I think I can brief him. I agree with the careful approach, so I'd like to keep it this way," Natasha said.

"Well, we're almost there. We could be testing this within the coming days, and I would like to do it in the middle of the night. Without the others. Just Darcy and me."

Natasha looked over at Darcy. "A little bird told me there have been some developments of the private kind," she said.

Darcy felt her cheeks warm. "Uh, yeah, you could say that," she admitted. Natasha grew serious. "I'm not talking about this with him. He hasn't even asked," Darcy said.

"It would be a good thing to keep it that way," Natasha replied and looked over at Jane again. "In what way are you planning on testing it?"

"First of all I want to see if I can fire it up and how it reacts. I'm a bit concerned about some of the calculations so I first and foremost need to know if it behaves correctly. Once that one is down, I'd like to start testing it for real. But one thing at the time. I'm not 100% certain I have the aim right. Thing is, it's incredibly easy to miss a destination. The distances are so enormous, even the slightest fault could have catastrophic results. I'd like to send a beacon through first, shut it down and open it up and see if we can pick up the signal."

Natasha nodded. "Sounds like a good approach." She paused. "Have you looked at the data from the satellites over the past week?"

Jane looked over her shoulder. "No. I left Erik and Ian in charge of that. I would expect them to say something if they were to pick up on anything."

"It's not conclusive, but some of our people have noticed a disturbance reminding us of the readings we picked up while the Bifrost was still active."

Jane dropped her hands from the panel and turned around as best she could while sitting down. "Are you saying something is going on out there?"

"I'm not an astrophysicist and I'm not going to theorise. We have readings. I'm surprised no one has said anything to you." Natasha looked pointedly at Jane.

Jane silently processed what Natasha had said and Darcy turned her eyes to look at the surroundings. With swift motions Jane reached for the laptop and started tapping on it, intensely concentrated on the screen. Minutes went by in silence, as Darcy and Natasha watched Jane. "I have scrolled through the data and I can't see anything here. Are you sure?" Jane looked up at Natasha with a frown.

"I don't think the astrophysicists would call Director Fury in the middle of the night if there weren't something to show," Natasha said.

"Are you saying someone is tampering with this?" Darcy asked.

Natasha turned to look at her. "Yes. Will you let me have a look?" she asked and reached for the laptop. Jane handed it to her. Natasha whipped out a USB stick and pushed in to a slot and ran the interface that showed up.

"There is no sign of falsifying on this end." A hint of irritation was present in her voice.

"So, someone over at S.H.I.E.L.D. is messing," Darcy concluded. "Doesn't this strike you as weird? I mean, this has Loki written all over it," she said and looked over at Jane, who now had a pained expression on her face.

"Again, I don't want to theorise, but it does indeed look like we have something we need to deal with. I suggest you stop sending us data as of now. No more readings, or information about this build. You still keep that notebook?" Natasha pulled out the USB stick and handed the laptop to Jane.

"Of course I do," Jane replied as she put the laptop on the ground.

"Keep that out of sight of everyone. Back up everything and wipe the hard drives clean, and let Erik do it, not Ian. Just tell them we have changed policies at S.H.I.E.L.D. and have asked you to comply, for safety reasons. If you need to send data, do it by courier, and on paper. Just give us a call and we'll send a guy. I'll give you some passwords before we leave here. Don't talk about anything of this in the car, in your home or here. Use these," she handed Jane a couple of small devices, "when you need to talk about something. They jam all forms of listening devices. I would still recommend you don't talk about things openly. Someone watching you could still read your lips."

"Wow. I feel like we're on Mission Impossible here," Darcy said and reached out to pick one of the jammers.

"You are handling sensitive data. We need to make sure it doesn't end up in the wrong hands," Natasha said coolly.

"What about Ian?" Jane asked.

"There is still nothing on him, and at this stage I think the best approach is to act like nothing is happening, but keep him out of the most crucial work."

"What about what's happening over on your end?" Darcy asked, raising her eyes from the piece of technology in her hand.

"We'll deal with it. I suspected you knew nothing of these readings, since we hadn't heard from you, so I brought the material with me." Natasha picked up another USB stick of her pocket and handed it to Jane. "Make sure you're offline when going through this."

Jane took it from Natasha's hand and looked up at the woman. "Is there anything you know about this?"

"People have theories, but I think you should look at it without them. You know more about this than anyone." Natasha rose. "I think Fury wants to speak with you as well," she said, waiting for Jane and Darcy to get to their feet.

"Oh happy day," Darcy grumbled and stood, pulling Jane with her. They followed Natasha who now was heading towards the staircase.

As Natasha reached it, she turned to look at them. "Put the jamming equipment somewhere safe and don't talk about it.

Jane and Darcy nodded and Natasha who responded with one slight nod, before descending.

* * *

All four of them stood outside the lab and watched the caravan of SUV's roll off in to the desert into the sunset. It's almost poetic, Darcy thought, as red rear lights glowed in the growing shadows, marking the cars' retreat out of Puente Antiguo.

Jane sighed, looked down at the ground, and kicked her toes in the dirt. Darcy put her arm over Jane's shoulders and pulled her close and leaned her head towards Jane's. The stood together silently watching the cars grow smaller. In the corner of her eye, Darcy could see how both Erik and Ian were watching them and she suddenly felt like an abyss had opened between them.

She was intensely aware of the fact that they couldn't trust anyone, perhaps not even themselves. Though she didn't want to think that Erik would do them any harm, he had been under Loki's control. It could happen again. And Ian, well, they couldn't trust him either. She pressed her eyes shut. For some reason she had a sense of foreboding. Too many strange things were happening, and she did not share the opinion of most people that, with Loki gone, everything was good in this world again. She didn't know what was lurking out there, but something was, and she was sure it wasn't nice and cuddly.

"Let's go inside," Jane said quietly and rubbed Darcy's back.

They slowly went inside and Jane resolutely ripped out the cable to the wireless router. "You heard them," she said, still quietly. "We need to back-up everything. Twice. The most important data must be back-upped more than that. I want it printed too."

"Is there a problem?" Ian asked. Neither Jane nor Darcy noticed the sharpness in his voice.

Jane turned and looked over at him, radiating tiredness. "New routines. If we are to work with them we need to comply. I really shouldn't complain, because it's good to have the routines for this, and we have been a bit lazy of late. We needed the kick in the butt." She smiled. "I'm not going to tie up everyone on this though. I want you to monitor the data and analyse what's coming in."

Turning to Erik she continued, "I'm asking you to do the back-up's, Erik. I know it's boring stuff, but you know the system as well as Darcy. Wipe the hard drives clean afterwards, the proper way." Darcy was next. "You'll help me with the prototype." Her eyes swept over to the computers. "Be careful and don't use the net now. Especially you, Erik."

"So we have a security breech?" Ian asked and put his hands on his hips. He was all 6 foot, 1 inches of Cambridge annoyance.

"They don't want to discuss it. It could be anything really but whatever it's about, they are right. Hooking us up to the net makes us vulnerable, so let's not do that as a habit from now on, okay?" Jane paused and looked at them, Erik first, next Darcy, and then she let her eyes land on Ian, who crossed his arms as they looked at each other. "Let's get back to work then."

Darcy was amazed by how casual Jane sounded. There was no dissonance in what she was saying. She'd make a great actress, Darcy decided and tried to make the same impression of someone who just learned they'd have to do a lot of extra work, which she in all honestly found incredibly boring.

With another long look, Ian turned back to his computer and sat down. Jane brought up her laptop and carefully glanced at Darcy, who caught it and strolled over to her and crouched beside her.

"Get the other laptop. We need to set up a LAN to go through the data," she said softly and brought out the USB stick Natasha had given them. Darcy rose and started gathering laptop and network cables and made sure the router wasn't hooked up to any other computers. She put down the other laptop next to Jane's and hooked them up to the router and turned it on.

As she looked over at Jane's screen even she felt a trickle of excitement at what she saw. By now she had done enough data analysis to roughly know what this was, and she sank down on the closest chair as she studied the screen. The readings were very similar to the Bifrost ones and concentrated on Europe. There was like a wide band sweeping from Bretagne in the west to Finland in the east, as far south as the Rhine Valley and in the north to Alta in Norway

"We just struck gold," Jane whispered and turned to look at Darcy.

"But what is it?" Darcy replied and frowned.

"It looks like residue from previous landing sites. Or something like that," Jane mumbled and frowned. "They're slightly different than the previous readings we have, but I don't know what that signifies." She sighed.

"I wonder why it's so concentrated on Europe," Darcy said and pointed on the screen.

"Old hunting grounds?" Jane smiled.

"Ew. Don't say it like that. It could be, you know. And we could have been the animals." Darcy glared at Jane.

"Hey! Get your head out of the bad sci-fi gutter!" Jane chuckled.

Darcy smiled back, but it wasn't an easy smile. "Just saying that we should consider other reasons for these readings than benevolent aliens with fancy capes."

"Point taken. Now, let's break it down."


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: **I feel like proposing listening to Berlioz's _Symphonie Fantastique, Dream Of A Witches Sabbath_, 2:50 into it. Yes, I personally feel it's a bit corny to propose music, but it's precisely the sense I had as I wrote it. Plus it's actually also a hint/spoiler, for those who know their 90s films. I don't know what else to say about this chapter for it to not become HUGE MASSIVE SPOILERS for the end. So read it and keep in mind that this is a hint for later. Several hints in fact.

And as always, thank you for reading!

* * *

**Chapter 10**

It was late when the three inhabitants finally made it through the door to their home. The ride home had been quiet, after a silent evening. So much for pretending everything is fine, Darcy thought as she walked over to the kitchen to bring out the slicer for the pizzas they had brought home with them. They sat down and started eating, still not speaking.

Erik reached for the Coke can next to him and opened it, drank some and put it down on the table.

"I take it you're not going to tell me what's going on," he said, eyeing Jane.

Jane sighed and put down the slice she was taking bites from. "I'm supposed to pretend like everything is like it should be, that all of this is just because S.H.I.E.L.D. changed their routines. I can't fool you, can I?"

Erik smiled a real smile, with teeth. "No, you can't. On the other hand I'm not going to demand answers. If you're not telling me, you have a good reason not to."

Darcy pulled up the jamming device she had in her pocket and put it on the table and turned it on. "I think it's time for this one now," she said.

Erik eyed the piece of technology. "So S.H.I.E.L.D. is having internal problems?" He nodded at himself. "Not unexpected. They've been under control before, though they weren't aware of it." He sighed and hid his face in his hands.

"It's safe to say we all feel the same," Darcy said, sullenly. "No, we weren't ordered to keep you out of it Erik, but I think you can guess we learned some new things when we talked to Natasha, and we need to be careful."

Jane opened her soda can too. "I'm really sick of not being able to trust anyone, not even myself," she said glumly. "That thing," she lifted the can and motioned towards the jamming device, "shouldn't really make that much of a difference, because we have known this all along, but it really drives it home that this isn't only a research project."

Darcy stared at the small piece of technology on the table, tuning out of the discussion between Erik and Jane. She had been unable to hide how uncomfortable she was with Fury's and Natasha's visit, and when Ian had prodded her, asked her to stay and spend the night, she had declined. The way he pressed his lips to a hard line spoke volumes of what he felt, but she couldn't make herself reach out and tell him some white lie.

She was torn on this, because she really only wanted to pounce on him and flee all of this in the comfort of his arms, but she had chosen Jane this evening. The chasm was still there between them, with Jane and her on one side, and Ian and Erik on the other, though Erik had the talent for bridging it.

She looked up at Erik as she realised he was in some ways more dangerous than Ian ever could be. Damn you, Loki. If I ever meet you I'll tell you a thing or two about ruining people's lives, she grumbled inwardly. Paranoia made her angry. She lifted a slice of the pizza and took a bite.

Her phone vibrated and she picked it up, and brought up the text message she had received. It was from Ian.

_I miss you. Wish you were here as I feel terribly lonely right now._

She read it with a scowl on her face. I'm not feeling too great myself, she thought and put down the phone after turning off the screen. Turning her attention towards Jane and Erik, she listened to them discussing what it could be that was happening within SHIELD, and how to proceed from this point.

The message jabbed at her mind though, making it impossible for her to fully concentrate on what the other two were saying. Probably his intention, giving her a bad conscience by sending it. She glanced at the phone again. Or, it could be that he actually was lonely. That he had nothing to do with anything and felt shut out, in the growing paranoia. She kept eating with an eye on the phone.

Finished with her meal, she rose without a word and went to her room where she brought out a backpack. She quickly stuffed it with everything she'd need for a night somewhere else, and went out into the common area, where Jane and Erik still were sitting.

"I'm going to Ian's," she declared. "Natasha told us we should act like everything was normal, but we really haven't. At least not me."

"You're not taking the bike I hope," Erik said, looking sternly at her.

She smiled. "Nope. Taking my car."

Jane picked up the jamming device she had in her pocket and offered it out to Darcy, who walked over and took it.

"God, I hate this," Darcy grumbled.

"Me too. Look at it from the bright side. If any of his neighbours has a habit of eavesdropping in more fancy ways, you now have the means to stop that from happening.

Darcy snorted. "Great. Creepy aliens _and_ creepy neighbours." She put the device in her bag. "See you guys tomorrow then."

Jane and Erik echoed goodbyes and with car keys in hand she went out the door, heading for her own car. The sky was clear as usual, and her eyes went upwards to look at the stars. Despite working with Jane, Erik and now Ian, she still had romantic ideas about the starry skies at night. She suspected that Jane only saw science when she looked up at the night sky, but Darcy still saw pretty twinkle first and possible science only after a while, when she turned her eyes to look at it.

With a smile on her face she unlocked the car, opened the door and dropped into the driver's seat. She fished out her phone and sent a text message to Ian about her decision to drop in before putting the key in the ignition, turning it and listening to the car coming to life. With the seatbelt fastened, she slowly drove off their property and onto the street, heading for the lab.

The streets were quite empty, which didn't surprise her since it was now late in the evening. Her trip was uneventful. The light was on in the apartment Ian lived in Darcy smiled in anticipation and she had her best smile on when he opened the door to let her inside. She quickly slipped off her glasses and put them in her coat pocket.

"I'm sorry about earlier. The Cyclops is not good for my mood," she tried to explain. Ian smiled warmly and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I know you two don't get along, but I thought you were friends with Ms Romanova," he replied and breathed in her hair and let his hand slowly move over her back.

"You can't really be friends with Natasha. I mean, she looks after us, and in some ways I do think she cares, but really, she's a spy. The only one she's friends with is Hawkeye." She loosened her arms she had wrapped around his torso and put her hands on his hips.

Ian pulled back. "Hawkeye?"

"The dude with bow and arrows who was Loki's mind slave. Apparently she has a soft spot for him, which makes sense, I guess."

"How so?" he asked and moved his hands to help her out of her coat.

"They have a history," Darcy answered evasively, suddenly remembering she shouldn't be talking about any of the Avengers. She let him take her coat of, and pulled her scarf from her neck as he hung the coat on a hook next to her. Before Ian could press on she turned the conversation.

"Are you feeling less lonely now?" She hung her scarf over her coat and turned back to him.

He grinned, reached out and with a firm grip on her waist he pulled her towards him. "I do. Who could not in your presence?" he asked, and his voice turned husky.

Darcy laughed. "You're so getting away with flattery," she hummed and kissed him. He let his hands slip down from her waist, ending up on her hips, pressing her close as she slipped her arms around his neck. For a short while they simply stood in the hallway, slowly kissing. Ian eased one hand under her sweater, found naked skin and slowly trailed his fingers over it.

"I don't really understand why I didn't stay here," she mumbled into his mouth and nipped his lower lip.

He breathed a chuckle at that. "Jane was monopolising your attention the entire evening. I think that was a factor," he said softly and invaded her mouth again.

Darcy sighed and smiled into his mouth and let her hands move slowly down from his neck, finding his shirt buttons. He pulled back slightly and looked down at her, eyes dark with desire, allowing her to quickly undo the buttons and pull up his shirt.

"I think I might have been hungry too," she purred and looked down at his belly, followed the trail of hair disappearing into his jeans with her eyes and grinned.

As her hands moved towards his belt, he leaned forward, brushing his lips over her cheek and breathing into her ear as he nibbled her earlobe, causing her to shudder. Heat was pooling between her legs and she shifted her hips in response.

"You still seem a bit hungry to me," he murmured in her ear.

Kissing her neck and then trailing her pulse with his tongue made her pause her hands, tilt her head slightly and moan. With a smile he grazed her skin with his teeth and resumed trailing her skin with his tongue.

"You have no idea how hungry I am," she breathed and moved her hands again, unbuttoning his jeans, one button at the time, slowly. Putting her hands on the small of his back, she pulled him closer. She found the edge of his underwear with her fingers, and moved them along the elastic, slipping them under it, causing him to tense up and pause his exploration down her neck. With a smile Darcy turned her head and sought his lips again, and their kiss deepened.

Both his hands found their way up under her sweater and he quickly pulled away from her a couple of inches, pulling the sweater over her head, trapping her arms behind her in the garment, while he pressed her firmly against him, resuming their kiss. Letting go of the half-discarded sweater, he put his hand on her hip, keeping her in an unyielding grip and slid his right hand up her back to release the clasp holding the bra. Darcy let her sweater drop to the floor behind her and moved her hands up his arms, entangling them in his hair, gripping it as she alternated between nipping his lips and hard kisses.

The clasp loosened and he trailed the skin under the sheer fabric until he reached her left breast, where he pushed the fabric aside with his thumb. Slowly he moved his thumb upwards until he found her nipple and circled it gently. She broke the kiss and a moan slipped from her lips. For a moment he kept her gaze as he kept tantalizing her nipple. With a small smile he leaned in and kissed his way down her neck, evoking more moans from her.

He pulled back slightly. "How about relocating?" he asked and caught her eyes again.

A grin spread over her face as they untangled themselves and Darcy let her bra slip to the floor in the process. She still had her boots on and she leaned down to pull them off. Ian stood watching her with a smile playing on his lips and she deliberately moved slowly, giving him a good view of herself.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked teasingly as she dropped one boot on the floor.

"Immensely," he replied gazing at her.

As she straightened her back, he reached out and caught her hip, again pulling her close, moving his hand over her breast once more. With a giggle she pushed her hands under the elastic of his underwear, grabbing his ass, pressing him firmly against her. Fiercely he kissed her again, moving his hand from her hip to the back of her neck, shoving his fingers in her hair as he kept her head where he wanted it. When she pulled back he released his grip somewhat, enough for her to speak.

"We've not moved," she whispered and nipped his lips again.

He grinned and nuzzled her ear. "I have problems keeping my hands off you," he whispered back.

With a quiet laugh she moved and pulled him with her. Untangling again, she sauntered off towards his bed, unzipping her jeans in the process. Ian discarded his shirt and jeans and moved to stand behind Darcy as she started pulling her own jeans off, grabbing her waist and pulling her toward him.

Leaning forward he trailed kisses over her back, letting her feel him against herself as she struggled to get rid of her jeans. Moving his left hand down over her belly, he slipped it inside her panties, eliciting a gasp from Darcy. She let go of her jeans and put her hands on the bed instead and hung her head, letting her hair flow down on the bed covers, her breathing now starting to get heavier.

His right hand found her breasts, moving over them as he teased her, making her arch up against him, moaning in pleasure. Grinning he continued kissing her skin, grazing it with his teeth and circling his tongue. He pulled his hand out of her panties and started pushing his briefs down, just enough to free himself, and then he went on to free Darcy from her panties, yanking them down her thighs. Pausing briefly, he circled his fingers up the back of her thigh until he reached her wetness. Toying with her he asked, "Do you want me Darcy?" He rolled her nipple between his fingers and she moaned and breathed hard. "Tell me you want me," he said and bit her shoulder lightly.

She pulled up her head up and her dark mane tickled his face. "I want . . ." she panted.

He pushed two fingers inside her, making her gasp. "Tell me what you want," he said silkily.

She panted and moaned and moved under him, pressing against his hand. "I want you . . ." she managed. He pulled out his fingers and circled his wet fingers over her skin.

"Ask nicely," he purred.

"Please," she breathed and pressed up against him.

A loud crack was heard in the kitchenette and Ian froze. Darcy didn't immediately react but as he started moving, letting go of her and straighten, she slumped to her knees and turned to peer through her dishevelled hair at the noise in the kitchen area.

"What the hell was that," she asked and slowly moved to sit on the floor, brushing her hair back from her face.

Ian struggled with his briefs and turned to stalk over to the kitchenette. The microwave was smoking and crackling and it smelled of burning electricity and Ian quickly reached the malfunctioning piece of technology, yanking the cord from the wall socket. It stopped crackling, but small flames shot out from the back of it. Quickly he pulled a small fire extinguisher from the wall and hosed down the microwave with a sure aim. Darcy was on her feet, pulling up her panties and jeans. When finished, she walked over to the window and opened it and stayed next to it to breathe some fresh air.

"What the hell happened?" she asked with wide eyes, staring at the scene in front of her. The air was still thick with the fumes from the electrical fire.

Ian dropped the empty extinguisher on the floor and glared at the counter. "I have no idea. It wasn't running, so it shouldn't just . . . go poof." He crossed his arms and glanced at her.

Darcy suddenly started laughing, and soon Ian joined in. "Good thing we were here," she said and pulled a deep breath. Ian smiled and moved over to her, put his hands on her hips and resolutely pulled her to him.

"How about us resuming what we were doing?" he murmured and nuzzled her temple slowly moving down towards her ear.

As if someone had stuck her head in the microwave as it was burning, the fumes seemed to soar and fill her nose and mouth. Hot chemical fumes filled her lungs and was everywhere around her. Her head reeled and she gripped his arms to steady herself and she felt sick, oh so sick.

She looked up at Ian as her stomach revolted, and she clamped her hand over her mouth and before she knew what she was doing she tore herself lose and scrambled to the bathroom. Barely making it, she emptied her stomach in the toilet, over and over again. The awful smoke still seemed to surround her, which didn't make any sense, and every time her stomach seemed to calm down, it came back to her and she was back half-way down the toilet coughing and gagging. It felt like it lasted an eternity, but eventually the nausea seemed to subside, and she dropped to the floor for a while, just breathing.

"Are you okay?" she heard Ian say. She glanced up at him as he stood in the doorway, looking uncomfortable.

"Hopefully," she rasped and hung her head down over the toilet bowl again, in an attempt to get away from the stench filling her nostrils. Why the hell was she still smelling it?

"You want some water?" he asked and she croaked a yes, slowly working herself up to sit up again, trying to breathe calmly, with closed eyes. He disappeared and she peered around, spotted his bathrobe, and pulled it down and pulled it on. When feeling like this she didn't feel comfortable being naked from the waist up.

With a glass in hand she moved so she leaned against a wall, slowly drinking its contents. Ian had brought her a damp washcloth which she now placed over her forehead and eyes. The cool dampness seemed help with the uncomfortable hotness she felt and the smell of the wet cotton helped counter the foul stench in the air around her.

"I think I reacted to the smoke," she explained weakly after a while for him, who now was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, watching her. He seemed uncomfortable with the whole situation and not at all interested in comforting her.

"But there was hardly any smoke at all," he said a bit too coolly and she felt irritation rise inside. Yes, she was obviously faking throwing up on his toilet.

"Nevertheless, it was the smoke," she replied curtly. "Damn, I can still feel a whiff of it now," she groaned and pulled down the washcloth over her nose.

Ian sniffed in the air. "I don't feel anything," he said.

Ian's sympathy levels had evidently plummeted after her sudden toilet worshipping. "I'm probably just more sensitive than you," she mumbled, not really feeling like getting irritated over it. It wasn't as if she couldn't understand his reaction. People barfing was not charming.

With a sigh Ian stood. "Let's get you off that floor. Bed time," he said.

At that a new wave of nausea hit her but determined to not throw up more, she clamped her jaws shut, while Ian pulled her to her feet. What the hell was wrong with her? Her head swam and she gripped the door post to steady herself.

"If I didn't know better I'd say I'm pregnant," she grumbled as she ungracefully shuffled out of the bathroom.

"Are you?" she heard Ian's toneless voice behind her.

That cut. Not that she had any plans of the kind, but she had felt better if it he had sounded at least somewhat less . . . cold. He obviously had no such plans. At all.

She sighed. "No. First off, I had my period just now, as you know, and second, we've not had sex that long." She held up her arm, showing the inside of her underarm. "Look." She pointed at an uneven surface of her skin, under which the Implanon contraception was. "I don't have to think about getting pregnant."

Another wave of nausea overtook her. "Maybe I'm just . . . sick," she said flatly and closed her eyes.

Ian sighed. "Maybe I should just take you home," he retorted, sounding detached.

She nodded and swallowed. If she really was sick, it wouldn't help Ian to get sick too. He ushered her towards the hallway and she opened her eyes.

* * *

Erik was still up when she stepped through the door and he looked at her in surprise.

"Darcy, are you okay?" he asked when he saw how pale she was.

"Um, no, not really." She made a recount of what had happened – sans details of what she and Ian had been up to – while Erik listened, looking increasingly worried. "He took me home again, and my god, I was so very, very sick," she said, and took a deep breath. "Interestingly I feel better now. Actually, I feel a lot better now."

"Drink something while you can. Sometimes it comes and goes, so you better rehydrate now," he said. He looked like he wanted to say something more for a moment, and then he simply gave her a forced smile.

She nodded and went over to the kitchen and picked up a glass from the dishwasher, filled it with water and leaned against the counter while she slowly drank it. Filling it up again, she then left the common area for her room, saying goodnight to Erik.

Getting into bed had rarely felt so good. For some reason she felt a lot better as soon as she got home, slipping into a large t-shirt she used for sleeping, crawling into bed. The cool air from the slightly open window felt like a balm and the familiar smells chased away the remnants of the foul smoke. The only downside was that she still hummed after being revved up without it leading anywhere. She lay on her back, breathing calmly trying to achieve a relaxed sinking feeling, but her mind was constantly invaded by images from her encounter with Ian earlier.

"Dammit" she muttered and slipped her hand between her legs to at least get some kind of relief, even if it was a poor substitute for the real thing.

* * *

"I want to test it tonight," Jane said as she put the panel in its place. "Do you have it programmed?"

Darcy looked up and grinned. "Yes. It's all done."

Jane got on her feet and peeked at the sky.

"I'm nervous," she said and stepped outside of the canopy sheltering the machine they had built.

"Of course you are." Darcy looked down at the screen in front of her. "Me too." She disconnected the computer and put back the metal casing, shut the laptop and picked up the cable, slowly rolling it up. "We could wait one more day and try some more simulations. You know, just in case," Darcy said as she stood too.

"No, this is the perfect moment. Ian is not here and can be expected to sleep quite soundly considering he's been sick." The morning after the microwave incident, Ian had called in, sounding miserable. Darcy had raised an eyebrow at that and when Erik asked how she felt, she could only say that she felt great. Whatever Ian had, she was spared thus far.

"But it's Friday," Darcy interjected, glancing around at the buildings and streets she could see.

"I don't want to wait until Monday or Tuesday. I want to get it over and done with before he's on his feet again." Jane turned to look at Darcy. "Besides, it's not particularly wild on a Friday out here at the edge of town."

They started for the stairs. "How is he doing by the way?" Jane asked.

"Getting better. It really knocked him on his ass, didn't it?" Darcy asked thoughtfully. He had asked her to not stay in case whatever it was he had was contagious, when she had stopped by with things he needed and had asked for from the grocery store.

Jane nodded. "Hmm, yes. It's a bit odd. I mean, yes, you got a bit sick, but not like that."

Technically Darcy didn't know exactly how bad it had been, but he had definitely seemed unlike himself when she had talked to him. He had been out for two days straight but now things seemed to be looking up.

"So are we going with the party girl schtick then?" Darcy asked as they descended the stairs.

"It's the smart cover, isn't it?" Jane said, wrestling with an uncooperative cable.

"I need to nap," Darcy whined.

"Oh come on Darcy. You're younger than me so stop whining," Jane snickered and gave Darcy a light shove in the back.

"But I need my beauty sleep!" Darcy couldn't help smirking as she said it.

"Well, we'll think of something. Maybe we can nap for a bit after Erik has gone home. I told him he should get home early today. There's been a lot of overtime and although we don't really have much else to do, I'm sure he has a book or three waiting on his night stand."

Darcy grinned. They all read a lot, though Darcy and Erik were better at not reading scientific journals and other semi-work-related texts. Erik preferred good old paper books, while it would be hard to tear the tablet out of Darcy's grip. Erik had bookshelves in his room brimming with books and he had started to colonise the common area too. Darcy coolly replied to Erik's good-natured teasing of the lack of actual books in Darcy's room, by waving her tablet, reminding him that she had more books in her little device than he had in his book shelves.

"I still think it'd be a good idea to have a book club," Darcy said enthusiastically.

"You know it wouldn't work," Jane replied and threw a glance over her shoulder at the street behind her.

"It's you who is the one who has a hard time tearing yourself away from this." Darcy waved at the lab wall. "You're the one that needs it most of all."

"We're not starting one today, anyway." Jane walked towards the back of the lab where the doors were open.

"But tomorrow?" Darcy asked enthusiastically and skipped to Jane's side.

Jane looked over at her with a pained smile.

"That was not a 'no'!" Darcy shouted as they passed through the doors.

Erik looked up at them and slowly leaned back against the office chair's backrest. "What's not a 'no'?" he asked.

Darcy literally bounded over to Erik's desk. "A book club! She didn't say 'no'!" she beamed.

Erik chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, dangling his glasses from his hand. Amused, he said, "Well Jane, I'm pleased to hear it."

"I didn't say 'yes' either," Jane said as she sat down and started checking weather data.

"But you didn't say 'no'! Not saying 'no' is a 'yes', and you know it!" Darcy grinned at Jane.

"First you accept going out with Darcy, and then you agree to a book club. Something is up," Erik said and put on his glasses again, going back to what he was doing.

Darcy and Jane gave each other a quick glance. "Uh, well, pfft. Not really. I mean, aside from going out tonight. It's going to be super fun," Jane replied, taken a bit off guard.

"Super!" Darcy echoed after Jane, and turned to put the laptop away to charge for the night, but also to not reveal anything. Unlike Jane, Darcy couldn't act or lie and Erik had a cunning ability to pick up if something was off from just looking at her. Today, however, Jane seemed to have her foot in her mouth too.

"Super?" Erik repeated.

"Damn," Darcy muttered under her breath. She shouldn't have said anything at all.

"Despite popular opinion, I do actually like taking a break sometimes," Jane said with a neutral voice and a small smile, eyeing Darcy as she walked over to the docking station.

"Perhaps we should organise shot races?" Darcy said with a lopsided smile.

Jane rolled her eyes. "No! I'm not drinking shots!"

"I was more thinking along the lines of having others drinking loads of shots while we are running the money game," Darcy replied.

"I don't think I want to hear more," Erik said with a smile in his voice and went back to his work.

Darcy dared a quick look over at Jane who mouthed "you owe me". They grinned at each other.


End file.
